A Newfie Christmas - Day 5

I'm glad I waited . . . originally the answer to the quiz was d) . . . now I'm not so sure. It's not quite cold and frozen tundra yet, but it's getting there. And my cars snow tires are agéd.

I'm SO happy to be home, to see my family (which is twice as big as it was last Christmas), to see people that I haven't seen in forever and ever. It's odd . . . it's probably one of the first times that I've missed home whilst I've been home. As I become more familiar with my home in the United States, I'm becoming increasingly aware of the differences between the two. Perhaps I'll blog about that someday, in more detail, but for now I think I'll just let it sit in my head. I don't really enjoy hearing Canadians who come to the US to work (like, camp, for example) and who bash the US the whole time they're there . . . the same way that I don't enjoy hearing people bad-mouth Canada because America is the "greatest country on the planet". It's all subjective . . . the point is I'm trying to appreciate both for their strengths and weaknesses and realize that no one is perfect.

Sorry, that's too deep . . . I'll try to lighten it up a little next time.

It's almost time for Hot Turkey Sandwiches . . . a wonderful boxing day treat with fries, dressing (dry, bread, stuffing . . . not salad dressing), and gravy. Just another reason why I believe turkey should be declared "Most Phenomenal Food in the Universe!". There' snothing that it can't do!

Grace!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I hope Santa Claus was good to everyone!

A Newfie Christmas - Day One

Well, we've been in Newfoundland for about 24 hours now. Twelve of that have been spent sleeping. That's the most sleep either of us have had in FOREVER. It was nice. And it's been great hanging out with the family and catching up on things that have been lagging behind.

In honor of our first day in Newfoundland, please complete the following test. It's one question long . . . shouldn't be that much of a strain.

In Newfoundland, it is currently:
a) a frozen tundra of ice, snow, and fauna suited for survivial in arctic condidtions.
b) very, very cold
c) a bowl of almonds
d) pretty much the same as when we left NC.

To heighten the anticipation, I'll leave the answer until tomorrow!

In summary, we're having fun and Tim Horton's is much more profitable than it was just a day ago.

Grace all.

Some Clarification

***Advisory: This, like all my posts, has been written in haste, and was not reviewed prior to posting . . . please forgive any misspelled words . . . and the sarcasm . . . the sarcasm is supposed to be there ;-)

Friends . . . a recent email and a not-so-recent comment has prompted me to file a statement of clarification (i.e. not a retraction). Both have to do with the hot topic of homosexuality and specifically my post earlier in December regarding the United Church of Christ and the Southern Baptist Convention. While y'all are not privy to the complete correspondence I've received on this post I will do my best to clarify some of the more controversial points.

In essence, many comments I've received have used the premise, "If we do it for one, we need to do it for all of them." Specifically, if we let homosexuals into our churches, then we, too, have to allow murderers, etc. Then, if said individuals are in church ANYWAY, why not allow them to have positions of leadership in our church, etc. God WILL turn sinners away from heaven. Those are the basic elements of the debates.

So, let me clarify. I am not condoning homosexuality. I believe the bible when it says that murderers, homosexuals, et al will not enter the kingdom of heaven. I believe the list continues to include gossipers, those who take the Lord's name in vain, alcoholics, pornographers and pornographees, voo-doo priests, un-believers, etc. I fall into at least some of the categories that are listed here in and in Scripture.

I also believe that God knows best for each of us, each of his perfect creations. Just as he called some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be teachers, he also designed us (perfectly, mind you) to be more susceptible to depression, to alcoholism, to schizophrenia, to cancer, to homosexuality, to lying, to cheating, to stealing, to murdering, to staying up late browsing for porn on the internet. He's given us all thorns that keep us humble, I believe, the effects of which are only alleviated when we go to Him for help, for salvation, for grace, and for mercy.

The last paragraph can be read simply, "God made us who we are, good and bad, and has a way for all of us to be saved."

If I had an addiction to alcohol, and you didn't, you could only reach me by first understanding, or attempting to at the very least, the scenario and life-history from which I am coming. If I'm an alcoholic wishing to conquer my sin and you've never been addicted and the best advice you can come up with is "Just stop it." and you don't love me . . . I'm going back to the bottle that never turns me away. If I'm a Christian addicted to pornography and you are not, and you say to me, "What you're doing is wrong!" and kick me out of band or praise team or corps cadets or whatever program, I'll say, "You think I don't know that what I'm doing is wrong? I'm not an idiot. But you know what? I can't stop. I need you're help, you're shoulder, your love, not your words."

If I'm a Christian that has only ever dated those of the same gender, what I don't need is your ridicule, nor do I need words, or hate, or coldness, what I need is to know that I'm welcome to enter into a friendship with you, that you're concerned about my life, my well-being, that you will allow me the freedom to come into your church and you will even allow me to speak to God while I'm there. I don't need your conviction. The Holy Spirit is quite talented enough to handle convicting those who need it. That's why I can say without hesitation that I don't agree with my homosexual friends marriage, as noted in the December 3 comment. But fortunately, it's NOT MY JOB to go to him and convict him of what I have known or interpreted to be true. I don't understand his position because I'm heterosexual. I don't know the ins and outs of his relationship with Christ. I tell him God loves Him. I show him that I love him too. I tell him to continue to seek God's will. To read the scriptures, to meditate on it day and night. I tell him to meet with his husband and pray about it, for hours, to seek the Holy Spirits leading. God handles dealing with their hearts, because I can only communicate with Him in the language of the heart . . . and maybe Kristy . . . but even then I usually need words.

All Christians need to do is preach the gospel. All over the world. Go tell people that God loved them so much that he's provided a way to get to heaven to spend eternity in BLISS and it's a free agreement for WHOMEVER so chooses to take advantage of it. Find a way to get the world to realize THAT.

Finally, I still support the UCC's message. Jesus didn't turn anyone away . . . neither do we. In EVERY church I've ever been a part of we've had people from all walks of life. I've been in congregations with lesbians, with convicted child molesters, with alcoholics. Let me take alcoholics as an example. I'm in the SALVATION ARMY. A huge part of what we do is to help, or attempt to help Alcoholics break their routines, their enslaving addiction and restore them to their families, to productive lives and eventually, hopefully, to reconciliation with Jesus. Now, we spend MILLIONS of dollars to do this. We bus them to our corps. We have many of our corps people that minister at our Adult Rehabilitation Centers. We spend lots of time and money to make this happen. What if THEY wanted to be a leader in the Army or in a church? Lets get the elders of the church together, pray for discernment, commit the matter to Christ in prayer and see what he comes up with. But make sure that we only get the priests, and elders, and deacons that have proven themselves worthy by having well-behaved respectable kids. If your kid is on Ritalin, your prayers don't count.

Church administrators have the responsibility of reviewing each persons "application" to lead a church in whatever capacity they wish to do so. Some people get turned away, for many different reasons. Why do I have a prophet teaching a Sunday school class? Can't we find a teacher to do that? Our praise band leader has no heart for ministry nor musical competence. But she wears a uniform. Having standards in place regarding ones spirituality seems a little odd to me anyway . . . who am I to say you're Christian enough? I masqueraded as "a perfect Christian" for many years. No one caught me. Looking back, doesn't make it right. I don't think I led anyone astray.

So, again, having standards in place makes sense. Not giving people the chance to commune with Christ because outside of the doors of the church they're "evil sinners" is completely ludicrous to me.

13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

I wonder what he meant by that? All I know is that someone Christ loved tried to get to Him and when the disciples tried to turn them away, Jesus got mad and said not to hinder them. He met with them and then He left.

Grace All.

A New Baby Boy

First of all . . . no. Kristy and I do not have a new baby boy, we are not pregnant, nor are we considering it at this point in time.

That disclaimer aside . . . CONGRATULATIONS to my best man Harvey and his wife Tracy on the birth of their new son (wow . . . that's weird: they have a son!) Caleb William Reid! He was born on December 17th, 2004 in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Yay! (Insert trumpet fanfare here).

Grace vs. Mercy

I drove to Camp Walter Johnson today to pick up some music for a Christmas gig coming up on Thursday morning. It's a little bit more than an hour-long drive X both directions. Altogether I had 3 hours to think (and to listen to NPR between thoughts - I have indeed become a closet National Public Radio junkie).

On the Dianne Rehm show (which I usually don't listen too as Mrs. Rehm sounds agéd and dessicated - old and dried out for those of you who wish to not find a dictionary right now), there was a member of a conservative Christian group (I forget which one) and a representative of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). So, basically, there was a forum between representatives from opposing poles of the political spectrum.

The topics ran the gamut from homosexual marriage, to abortion, to prayer in public schools, etc. The point of all this is that I got to do a lot of thinking about a bunch of different things.

I got thinking about the concepts of grace and mercy. The best explanation I ever heard of the two was as follows: "Mercy is how one DOES NOT get what we DESERVE (i.e. we DON'T get sentenced to hell, even though we deserve it; whereas Grace is how we GET what we DO NOT deserve (i.e. we get blessings upon blessings even though we have meritted them)."

We seem to spend all of our time stuck in grace mode. We're very aware of grace. We REALIZE the significance of grace. We're very thankful for Grace. We're all about grace. We seem to miss the boat on mercy.

I think this is reflected, too, in everyday life. There is A LOT of grace in this world . . . there's not a heck of a lot of mercy, that I can see. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places.

I think it's probably best explained by thinking about what each involves. For HUMANS to replicate grace is self-serving in a way, and almost fun. Giving people stuff is good for both people. If you buy someone a gift, for example, it's win-win. They get a gift, you get the thanks for getting the gift, and maybe a little popularity. Anybody who buys me a gift is OK in my books. AND, you feel good about yourself too . . . that may be a little trivial . . . but the general idea is the same. The Salvation Army is GRACEFUL at Christmas. No one really DESERVES all of the gifts and assistance that the Army gives (need does not necessarily equal merit), but it gives it nonetheless . . . cause that's what Jesus would do.

Now, mercy on the other hand is more like self-degradation. For us to replicate it, something bad needs to be taken away from someone that deserves something bad to happen to them. Sometime supervisors will step in to "take the blame" for something that an employee did. But, that's the exception rather than the rule. "Let 'em get what's comin' to 'em." Someone would need to step in to take the death penalty suggested for Scott Peterson. That's somewhat more difficult to do. Mercy always involves an abasement of the merciful. It's a double whammy: degradation plus whatever penalty your taking.

Hopefully, I can start looking for ways to be merciful. Jesus took the nails in his hands, and his feet, took a spear to the side, that should have been headed for me. It's easy to be graceful, relatively speaking. Jesus didn't want the "cup taken away" from He was being Graceful. He wanted it taken away because he knew what the results would be if he were merciful.

Hopefully all this makes sense. It's been a "me thinking with my fingers session".

One last quick thought: it seems to me that we'd be a whole lot more in love (endebted to, appreciative, etc) of someone who was merciful (i.e. took away something bad) than someone who was graceful. If we were to fully appreciate God's mercy (i.e. that He gave up his life, when He should have TAKEN ours) how much more would we want to worship Him. How much less would we complain that our roast is at home burning in the oven on a Sunday morning? When given the choice between eating lunch on time or kneeling snotty-faced at the foot of the cross pouring out our love for the SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, would we still choose lunch?

Grace AND Mercy.

So, I'm a Loser (Or 1992 Revisited)

For a moment . . . I want you to think back with me to the last time that you saw the "loser" sign (i.e. "her finger and thumb in the shape of an 'L' on her forehead" - not necessarily on the forehead . . . but at least the finger and thumb part).

So when was it? 1997? High-School? 90210 re-runs?

Mine was yesterday.

Kristy and I were heading home after church. There's a traffic light at the intersection of Marsh Road (where the church is) and South Boulevard, and immediately to the right is a small strip mall. So the light is Red and I'm getting pretty close to it. There's a grey Honda CRV coming across the parking lot of the mall looing to get out on Marsh Road. At this point I'm not thinking anything weird . . . my intentions are to go up to the stop line on the road and stop . . . because that's what you do at a stop light.

Now the chick in the CRV is obviously thinking something different. As I'm getting closer and closer to the light, she decides to start nosing out in front of me. Now I'm thinking, "What are you doing?" and "You can't go anywhere because the light is red."

And, of course, I hadn't anticipated her nose sticking out in the road so I didn't alter my speed to compensate. Long story short, I didn't let her out in front of me. Not that I was mean. She just didn't give me enough notice that she wanted to get out.

So as I pass she waves her arms in disgust at me, I notice from the corner of my eye. She pulls out behind me, and I look back just in time to see her give me the "L" . . . I mean THE "L".

The LOSER sign . . . what is that? Are you stuck in the 90s?

That's just incredible to me. I mean if you're ticked off that I didn't give you the privilege of getting to the red light before me, give me the finger or something . . . but the loser sign . . . what the . . . ? It just made me laugh. It made me WANT to not let people out to see what other signs I'd get.

Then I got thinking . . . how did all these hand gestures become offensive. People are weird, man. Like what is it, and WHY is it that brushing your chin, towards someone, is a bad thing. Or your middle finger . . . that's just hilarious to me.

A guy gets "flipped the bird" a hundred years ago . . . and says "WHAT . . . I WOULD'VE TAKEN ANY FINGER BUT NOT THAT MIDDLE ONE. YOU'RE INDEX FINGER? FINE. YOUR PINKY? I'M INDIFFERENT TO THAT PARTICULAR FINGER. BUT YOUR MIDDLE FINGER! THAT'S JUST . . . THAT'S . . . I'M BEATIN' YOU DOWN PUNK!"

How in the world did a simple finger become SO freakin' hilariously offensive . . . to the point that the FCC censors it out on television shows? It cracks me up. But I think about stuff like that a lot. Like a lot of the offensive words that we consider offensive . . . like why is saying 'crap' acceptable but not another word that means the same thing?

Anyway . . . as you can see sometimes my brain functions on a pretty shallow level!

Grace.

Someone Already Said It

Interestingly enough . . . the entirely of my last entry can be summed up in these words, already spoken by someone who came before me:

"The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind."
MLK, Jr.

Grace.

Survival of the most fittest.

I've been thinking a little more about my post from yesterday . . . about holding grudges, etc. Lend me your eyes . . . and your brain . . . at least the parts that involve visual cognition and reading comprehension. Often, it seems as though we have made life into a series of subconsiousness-engaging competitions. I.E. we want to prove that either:

• we are better than someone else; or
• someone else is worse than us

Examples . . . 1) On our way to work this morning, Kristy and I were discussing this very point. I was in the furthest left lane behind one vehicle and with some open space behind me. A guy was approaching me, pretty quickly, from behind . . . catching up to the traffic, kind of scenario. I'm about to get off at my exit, so I'm looking for an opening to start changing lanes, realizing that I have about one mile to do this. So I get over and guy flips me off and honks his horn at me. I still can't figure out what I did that ticked him off . . . and I've been trying. Just seems like he was in a hurry and I was the closest thing he had to blame for keeping him from getting to his destination on time. So he had to make me feel bad, so he could feel superior. It wasn't that he was late leaving, it was that traffic (i.e. me) was holding him up.

2) This blog (or any blog, really . . . see, I did it again: I had to make sure that I said that I'm not the only example of this . . . I had to at least level the playing field). Blogs, I realized with the help of my lovely wife, are very ego-centric. I get to write all I want about me, and demand that you read and comment on it, and you don't get to interupt me . . . I want to tell you about me and my life and what I can do because, gosh darn it, I KNOW that you really care about what I'm thinking: I'm just THAT important.

3) Church (aka Hatfields vs. McCoys): 'nuff said.

Competition isn't a bad thing . . . in general . . . I guess. Cooperation isn't either. A simple realization that we're not the central figure in this place we call the universe is also a fairly decent view to adopt.

Imagine what a difference it would make if we tried to prove to someone else that they are better than us . . . I wonder how long it would be before I blog that we don't focus enough of our attention inward.

Grace.

Pity Postings

7 comments . . . nice!

I'll take pity comments any day of the week. I was having comment withdrawal . . . I wasn't sure how to deal with it.

It's a little odd knowing that people read about each others' lives. Maybe even moreso, it's odd that people post a diary of their lives on the internet for all to see and comment upon. And yet even moreso, it's odd that people enjoy having their lives and experiences commented on by others, either friend or foe.

But I do . . . I'm freakin' addicted. I think it's the attention that I like, though I'm not sure. I've been on a bit of a keeping in touch thing lately . . . more like a renewing connections lost with people over the years, be they camp staff friends, or just relationships that I've let proverbially fall by the proverbial wayside.

I've also been realizing that many of my postings come from my morning experiences. Which is odd because Kristy and I are generally lazy in the morning, which means we get up dangerously close to the time when we should be leaving for work, which means that I really have very little time to experience anything . . . apart from coffee and the today show.

In short, randomness is fun.

My calendar today says Wednesday, December 8. Chanukah. Underneath this it gives me the five steps to performing an absolute emergency tracheotomy (I have a "Worst Case Scenario" desk calendar). So, you can feel safe about hiking with me, as I know how to open your trachea to the outside world should it ever need to be.

It's also the anniversary of the US' declaration of war against Japan. Today, we drive their cars and play their video games. We've let by-gones be by-gones (I think this is the first time in the history of me that I've actually written that). It's amazing how people and/or countries can forgive mass slaughter but we have a hard time with things that supposedly are much less harsh. Foriveness, eh?

Grace.

Comments?

No one leaves any comments on my blog anymore . . . *whimper*

Steve Maroni

You know what really gets me? When people think I'm stupid because they made a mistake.

Here's the transcript of a phone call that I received today, to illustrate my point.

Caller: Steve?

Desmond: (Politely) No, I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number.

Caller: (Somewhat disgusted) Steven Maroni?

Desmond: (equally as disgusted). NO, YOU must have the WRONG number.

*Click*

Ok . . . so not a big deal, right? Did he think I was confused because he used a shortened version of some guys name? Did he think by elongating the name that I would suddenly realize that by "Steve" he meant "Steven Maroni"? Could it possibly have been that HE made the mistake instead of having to try to put the blame on me.

AND it's not the first time this situation has happened to me. About once a month someone will call with the wrong number and imply that I'm either an idiot or witholding information.

Some people . . . sheesh.

Peace

there's a place that i know where the sycamores grow
and daffodils have their fun
where the cares of the day seems to slowly fade away
and the glow of the evening sun
peace when the day is done

if i go there real late,
let my mind meditate on everything to be done
if i search deep inside, let my conscience be my guide
then the answers are sure to come
don't have to worry none
when you find a piece of mind
leave you worries behind
don't say that it can't be done
with a new point of view
life's true meaning comes to you
and the freedom you seek is won

peace is for everyone peace is for everyone
peace is for everyone

Norah Jones

Letters to Santa

Santa Claus is a huge part of Christmas traditions . . . with that, I agree. I love Santa, but at some point it goes over a line of decency. Today, I learned that this year Americans will spend approximately $185,000.00 in postage for letters to Santa. That works out to be about 500,000 letters. Now, that's not included the people who are more technologically advanced and submit letters to Santa via the internet.

Now . . . lets say that each person who mailed a letter to Santa also donated the price of a stamp to feed orphans in famine-ravaged regions of Africa. Or lets say that the US postal service simply contributed this amount to some humanitarian aid fund.

We're a little messed up. We talk about peace on earth and goodwill to all men but this Christmas thousands and thousands of people will die because we didn't do anything for them, when we can.

I pray this Christmas we'll all do a little something to help someone who needs it. And not for us . . . for them. Just for them. For no other reason than they need something that we have.

Even if it's just $0.37.

Grace.

My Contentment

I'm sitting down in my living room, with The Today Show showing me all the important news that I need to worry about. I'm sipping my vanilla cream coffee. My wife is still sleeping. I love her. I'm watching birds eat the seed from my balcony-mounted bird feeder. There are some finches and a little red cardinal. I'll have to clean up the seed shells later.

But I'm pretty content.

United Church of Christ vs. Southern Baptist Convention

So I'm watching Good Morning America yesterday to see the XXXChurch people. I didn't see them. I don't even know if they were on. It's usually the today show that I watch, so that I was watching Diane Sawyer and crew was odd.

Anywho, about 7:30 or so Diane shows a commercial from the United Church of Christ. It shows a church set-up like a night-club, focusing especially on the bouncer. Different individuals and groups approach the 'velvet rope' (<- Simpsons Fans: Remember this?) and are either allowed in or turned away. It's an interesting concept . . . . it looks like a bunch of normal middle-class American families that are going to church. Now, its especialy more interesting as you see that the people that are turned away are homosexuals and various other people that aren't accepted in the church as being normal. There are only a few words that are flashed up on the screen. They are, "Jesus never turned anyone away." . . . "Neither do we." . . . "The United Church of Christ."

Diane also had some other guests on as well: the communication director for the United Church of Christ, and a Southern Baptists Seminary Professor. A very intereting debate ensued. The Baptist representative basically tore the commercial apart, saying that, "the commercial is in direct opposition of Christian values." He went on to say how in their Baptist congregation, they're all sinners but they're saved by grace; that no matter what people have done, the grace of God saves them all. In the same breath, he condemned homosexuality (which I agree with in principle) and said to accept them into church was unchristian.

The UCC member, however painted a very different picture. He basically said that all are welcome, they the UCC tries to understand the situations people come from, and would invite all to their churches where, at the very least, they can hear the gospel. Perhaps some of them don't realize the Bible's stand on homosexuality (granted, I think the vast majority of Christians don't understand the Bible's stand on homosexuality) or any number of other sins.

I get so SICK of hearing about stuff like this. Churches are dying. Americans are continually falling away from God. And we spend our time arguing whether a particular type and/or class of people are allowed in Church. Personally, I applaud the UCC. Granted, most of the major networks have refused to air the shot due to the controversy. But I like the stand. It's in your face. It's a slap to the other churches in the country. Homosexuals have souls too.

XXXChurch

I forgot to tell you about this.

http://www.xxxchurch.com is a very cool site. Post-Modern Chrisitan Anti-Porn type site. It really is safe. You can go check it out and it won't leave any weird viruses or anything on your computer. But if you or someone you know struggles with Pornography like so many people have and do, it's an amazing resource. I don't work for them, despite how this paragraph reads.

Anywho . . . so whilst at youth specialties in Atlanta, they had a pre-screening of a documentary that they're doing about their work. They're two pastors from California who just have this vision to minister to those enslaved by porn. They started with a lot of backlash from traditional churches, etc, but it's amazing to see what they've done. They show up at the porn conventions and market themselves as the #1 Christian Porn site. They've had porn directors donate time and equipment to their cause because of the positive work they're doing. Very interesting stuff.

So anyway, all that to say, that the two guys are going to be on Good Morning America on Thursday morning. It'd be great for y'all to see. They're pretty cool guys. Or, at least from what I can tell from sitting in a session led by them.

That's it. Check it out.

Grace.

Oooooh, my shrinking telomeres!

Hopefully your telomeres are not prematurely shrinking. If you're stressed however, they may be doing just that. Telomeres are little protein caps that are on the end of Chromosomes. They shrink with age. Scientists have now figured out that people under a lot of stress have smaller than normal telomeres.

So if you hear me say "Ooooh, my shrinking telomeres!", you know I'm not having a good day.

But I am . . . not to worry.

Merry December 1st, by the way.

It's a good day. This is our annual employee Christmas party week. Never a plesant experience for me. I generally am overworked, and end up making a fool of myself for the merriment of others. So, in reality, every week is an annual employee Christmas party week, in my world. Today we spent rehearsing a bunch of stuff . . . not the least of which were some arrangements of various Christmas songs that I've done for our "blues band". Granted, they stink. Not the people. The arrangements.

I've got a great song . . . that I think comes from the soundtrack of the latest Julie Roberts flick. It's The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice. Not sure what a blower is or why he/she would have a daughter . . . if you can shed any light, please do.

What I love about it . . . the chorus simply says, "I can't take my eyes off of you." It unsimply says more though. Damien (since I know him so well) sounds so COMPLETELY desparate. Made me think of Kristy. I love her a lot. Fitting . . . to love your wife. I could sing that to her all day, every day, for the rest of our lives. You really do need to hear it. It's on all the online services (napster, itunes, etc).

Then I realized how much Damien and Kristy have taught me about loving God, without either of them intending to. I wish I could as desparately sing "I can't take my eyes off of you" to Jesus Christ, the saviour of my life and master of the universe as I can sing it to Kristy. I should be able to. AND I should be able to sing it over and over and over, and mean it.

That's all I've got for today. It's been a while

50,000 years messes EVERYTHING up

I consider myself somewhat of a deep-thinking Christian. What I mean is that I most often don't take things at face value. I hear a sermon, I have to think about it. I hear an arguement as to why hymns suck and praise and worship songs are the ONLY way to go . . . I have to mull that over in my head. I also have a Bachelor of Science degree which means I've heard a whole lot of science in my time.

And then I watch the news.

CNN reported today about an archaeological site in South Carolina, currently being excavated by a USC team that potentially tears down all of the currently held beliefs and/or theories regarding human immigration (particulary into the Americas).

Basically, what they're saying is that (should this be TRUE) there is proof that there were human inhabitants in America 30,000-35,000 years before anyone else really thought they were here. The long-held belief is that indigenous peoples came from eastern Asia into what is now Alaska and through the Americas from there during the last Ice Age (about 17,000 years ago).

Now, if there were people here 50,000 years ago this WHOLE theory goes out the window which means Anthropologists and other -ologists have to refine what is currently understood to be true.

What does all this mean? Well, couple of things. Science requires as much faith as religion: it is built on concepts that are unproven, that are assumed to be true based on what evidence we currently have. Sometimes new truths require an alteration of our foundations, which changes whatever structure has been built ON that foundation.

Secondly, there could be an explosion of new studies into human population (verb, in this case) of the Americas. If you're into that, it's very cool.

I'm glad that my foundation doesn't need to change. I'm glad that Christ never changes, never fails, never becomes the center of debate with anybody in my field!

Now, don't even give my that 4,000 year old earth thing . . .

Grace.

How to Put Links on Your Blog!

Hey All.

I've had a lot of people asking me lately how I put the links to other blogs on desmerizing. So I decided to answer it here since more of you may be wondering, or if you know someone who MAY be just send 'em this way.

First of all, know that it's tough if you don't know anything about HTML (for example, if you don't know what HTML is . . . probably not a good start). But if you're adventurous, continue on.

Here goes; step by step.

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com
2. Log in with your username & password.
3. At the dashboard, select CHANGE SETTINGS.
4. Click the TEMPLATE tab (from here on it gets dicey . . . you may have to be a little interpretive . . . I'm not sure what design you're using, and I have only done this with mine).
5. If you're on the EDIT CURRENT page (which you should be), you'll see a big rectangular box right in the middle of the page. The stuff inside is the code that you'll need to add to to make these links work.
6. What you've got to try to do is scroll down in this box until you get to the point that you want to add your links. Mine are in a place called the sidebar. If your blog has a side bar, keep scrolling down 'til you find something like this - <DIV="sidebar">. If you can't find that, look for ANYTHING saying sidebar (or wherever else you may want to put your links, e.g. bottom, top, etc.). It'll be a long way down, so just be patient
7. Remember, this whole process assumes that all of the other blogs on blogspot are coded the same way.
8. You SHOULD see some of this stuff too: Begin #profile-container, End #profile-container, you'll see things that say previous posts, and MainOrArchivePage.
9. Look for this: <MainOrArchivePage> so that it looks JUST LIKE I HAVE IT WRITTEN.
10. Now . . . again, if you don't know how to write HTML, you may be in trouble. Know that if you start editing this stuff, and you mess something up, you MAY mess up your whole page, but if you DO, you can always go to the Template Tab -> Pick New, and from that page reset your template so it looks normal again.
11. OK, after , you'll want to write something like this:

<center><p>Friends Who Blog:<br>

<a href="http://nameofblog.blogspot.com">Person's Name</a> <br>

<a href="http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=username">Person's Name</a> <br>

Put </center> at the end . . . otherwise, keep repeating this for however many links you need.

Then hit Save Template Changes, and it should all work. Hopefully.

Like I said, I've only ever tried that on my own blog so I can't promise that it would work for you. I tried to keep it as simple as possible, but, quickly realized, it's not that simple. Hopefully it works for you.

Peace and Love all.

Grace.

Youth Specialties #3

My first piece of advice . . . check out http://www.skitguys.com. Funniest people on the planet.

Today was another crazy day . . . i laughed, i cried, i ate chick-fil-a.

Now i'm almost ready to go to sleep, but I'm watching Larry King Live on CNN and Rick Warren (as in the purpose driven pastor of purpose driven life) is being interviewed and is fielding call-in quesitons. It's the first time I've seen him and I'm not surprised. He looks like a pastor (actually he looks like a senior pastor that used to be a youth pastor - goatee, slightly balding, slighty expanding in the horizontal plane).

I've had a problem with him . . . no, i've had a problem with the obvious commercialization of "Christian" books. He seems nice and all . . . a little side-stepping of questions going on, and Larry King (of the Jewish persuasion) is GRILLING him quite intensely . . . 'So what you're saying is that the Jew isn't going to Heaven?'

Not that any of this has to do with my experience at youth specialties.

The truth is defending your faith is potentially incredibly challenging, because of the battleground, the context. The culture we live in has a picture of the evangelical as the far right-wing pompous word i'd LIKE to say here. On national television, no less. So I'm forced to applaud the Rev. Rick.

Which I don't like doing, but I'm never quite sure why.

In any case, I get to see my wife tomorrow, so I'm pretty stoked about that. Youth Specialties taught me a lot. Please hold me accountable to it, if you're reading this. Make sure that I'm actually doing something with what I'm learning.

Grace.

Youth Specialties #2

Funny thing. I'm still at Youth Specialties in Atlanta. I'm still away from my wife . . . this isn't the funny part. All of my questions . . . correction . . . all of my "mainly for interests sake" questions have been answered. I had a question about video production using real artists' music. It's been answered . . . don't ever ask for my come to Jesus video again.

Secondly, I had a question about media shout (awesome computer presentation program, FYI) and how to show some stuff on multiple screens. Well, today I met the vice president for new technology with media shout. Needless to say, he answered my questions.

So, I'm sure this is a let down, because I started by saying that this was funny, and I'm quickly realizing that it is not.

I apologize.

On the other hand, I'm tired. But I will share this:

Sometimes I wonder, usually at events like this, if we're worshipping God or David Crowder. Maybe I'll get a chance to elaborate more. Shouldn't we worship the same no matter if it's Dave or the rappin' grannies?

Just wondering.

Grace.

Lessons from Youth Specialties #1

Youth Specialties is a very cool thing . . . especially if you're involved with youth ministry in any way. Incidentally, I'm at a YS conference in Atlanta right now.
Unfortunately, that means I'm away from my wonderful wife, which has been very difficult and I miss her very much.

On the upside, I've already learned some interesting things and had some interesting experiences which I will share with you now.

1. When you put a large number of youth pastor type people (approx. 6,500 people) you meet a lot of interesting, and very friendly people.

2. Fast food is seldom good but always convenient.

3. My calling in life has nothing to do with red tape.

4. Truth is everywhere. This is a paraphrase of the thoughts of our first speaker of the day, Rob Bell. He spoke about truth and how you can find truth everywhere. He said to claim truth where you find it: essentially to use whatever truth you can find, no matter what the source, to help your ministry. He based everything from 1 Corinthians 3 where it says that everything belongs to you (you, meaning us, and everything meaning the whole world, life and death, etc) and that we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. A=B and B=C kind of thing. Examples: you may find truth in a music video, in a book, from a secular website, etc. In Titus, the writer quotes a Cretan Prophet. In Acts, we read a quote from a Greek poet. The implication he descibed was interesting and hit home with me in a powerful way. He encouraged us to raise our kids, either our own kids or rentals in youth groups, etc., with the mindset that God's truth is everywhere. Don't Christianity as being in a box, where anything outside of said box is not true (example, anything non-army is not true). Imagine raising a child that is taught that only her church, way of life, is correct and that there is no truth outside of that. Said child will go off to college someday, and will hear from professors some things that will be true . . . the now-older-child thinks that they have to choose one or the other - that both Church and world are at odds, when in fact God OWNS the world. He made everything in it. If the child is taught to discern truth from many sources, this problem is quickly eliminated.

5. Tonight, Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker's son spoke. He was supposed to be controversial. I was disappointed in the lack of controversy, though I did like the direction he was headed. He basically said the church is like a hosipital that has shut it's doors to sick people. "Oh, you're bleeding. Do you . . . do you think you could come back later when that stops? Everything is really white in there and the doctors don't want to get messy." etc, etc.

That's all I've really got time for right now. Except to say, I've realized I've become more open in my old age. I've already sought out a few people from my past and new people to ask questions to, etc. Example, the bass player from Downhere. Also, it was very good to hear Starfield again . . . I'm here in a hotel room with Murray. We opened for those guys!

Grace.

A Small, but tasty, joy

The recipe contained herein has brought me joy in the past. Hopefully it can to yours as well. Thanks, Bethany Hawley of Texas, for contributing to my life in this small but significant way. It's no coincidence that her middle name is JOY.

The Ultimate Snicker Doodle
3 tblsp sugar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 box yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 C. vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl
3. Combine cake mix, eggs, and oil in a large bowl. Stir until well blended. Shape dough into 1" balls. Roll into cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place balls 2" apart on cookie sheet. Slightly flatten balls with the palm of your hand (or bottom of a glass if you're hygienically inclined).
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 or 9 minutes

EAT AND ENJOY!

Grace [=Annie ;-)]

The Name Game

Keanu (i.e. Reeves) means (translated from Hawaiian) "cool breeze blowing over the mountain". That's pretty funny to me. My name means "man from south munster". That's also funny . . . apparently it's from a Gaelic surname.

Sometimes I wish I had a name that meant powerful or cool or something more interesting than descibing the fact that I came from a particular geographic location.

Oh well. People say that we have to make a name for ourselves . . .

Another thing . . . MTV commercials. I love 'em. There's one that gives situations from a regular persons point of view vs. a celebrity point of view. It's great . . . but my new favorite is the one that declares the death of "bling bling".

R.I.P Bling Bling - 1997-2003

So, now you know it's no longer cool to use bling-bling when refering to anything-thing. I'm just doing y'all a service.

Grace.

Who Are We Thanking?

Thanksgiving
Pronunciation: tha[ng](k)s-'gi-vi[ng] also 'tha[ng](k)s-"Function: noun 1: the act of giving thanks,
2: a prayer expressing gratitude, 3a: a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness b capitalized : THANKSGIVING DAY
From http://www.m-w.com

Thanksgiving is coming up in my current part of the world . . . not that I own it. But in any case it gets me thinking. Obviously I'm thankful, and I say that I'm thankful for God. I guess I am. It makes sense, at least, that I would be.

Then I got thinking about how pretty much everybody in this country celebrates Thanksgiving blindly. Or observes it at least. They take time off of work, if nothing else. We give thanks to somebody or something. But if people aren't spiritual, if we don't adhere to a set of divine beliefs and principles, then there are only two options: 1) we're not really observing thanksgiving (since Thanksgiving is a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness) or 2) we have declared we, ourselves, as divine.

I don't like calling anything something that it's not. There's something to be said for the power of words to subconsciously manipulate our understanding of something, in some cases to levels of perversion. My favorite example of this is "church". We have churches all over this country. We have a vast multitude of churches here in this region of the country. The problem is the church is the people . . . it became a building much later. I propose that our misuse of the word church to mean a building has severely altered our understanding of the true definition.

So, I don't particularly want to call Thanksgiving "Thanksgiving" if that's not what it is. And I recognize is not a CHRISTIAN thing, per se, in the world. Given that there are many different divinities that are believed to be, members of ALL faiths can recognize the generosity of their respective divinities . . . but if at the heart, no one recognizes the spiritual significance of this day, let's call it what it really is:

"Look at how much stuff I have accumulated and the position which I have attained" day.

Give Thanks.

Grace.

More Pics from the Wedding

Hey . . . here's another link to more pics. I'll be adding a bunch more later . . . so keep checking back!

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/canadezzy/my_photos

Remembrance Day

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/remembranceday/

Today, in my little world, is Remembrance day. It's really the same kind of thing as America's Veteran's Day and Memorial Day, if those days were both observed at the same time, in November, and given a "Royal-British-Crown" kind of twist. There's a link above if you want to read more about it and how it's different.

Anywho, just like everyone else today, I take a moment to think that people died for my freedom. I have no concept of war, though. There's no way for me to think that these people, these heroes were thinking about my life when they were wading through mud and dodging bullets. I have no concept of how they would have thought because I have had no reason to think that way.

I've seen war on television which as become science-fiction-ish. The only difference is that instead of expensive special computer-generated effects you have expensive reality.

Granted I'm glad that I've never had to face war. I'm glad I'm a citizen of a country that has been fortunate enough to avoid those kind of intense combat situations. I guess it's just odd trying to remember something that never happened for me. It's not so much remembrance as much as it is an imagination tainted by the entertainment industry.

It's also wondering if I would have done the same thing. I love my country . . . but that's tough stuff . . . sacrificing your life. Realistically, you could sacrifice your life and never die . . . you have to make that sacrifice by entering into battle.

My life is not my own . . . . more on this later.

Grace.

Music Stinks

Music doesn't stink.

Writing music out stinks. Even with Finale (a: computer software for writing music; b: a crutch for those of us who need to hear every note to make an arrangement work, either by divine intervention or trial and error; c: the current bain of my existence).

I'm writing some "blues" music for our staff Christmas party . . . . fun.

I wish it would work without the music . . . . maybe if I just keep telling myself its for posterity.

Also, I was really hoping to get some comments on my Mountain Dew post . . . see below.

Finally . . . you may want to check out this cool site - it's like it reads your mind . . . or is carefully calculated to narrow down your choice by eliminating similars based on your response . . . . either way, it's cool:

http://www.smalltime.com/dictator.html

which I found on little Annie Carter's blog:

http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=AnNiE4585

That's it. Though there may be more.

Grace.

Do the Dew

So, I'm on my way to Charlotte Temple today, to pick up my lovely bride. And as I'm travelling down a fairly busy South Blvd. when I see a Mountain Dew van just a little ahead of me, waiting to pull out onto the road. You know the one . . . white van, Mountain Dew logo painted in trademark green on the top rear corner, big funny looking "look-behind-me" mirror attached by a metal arm that's been bent 8 or 9 different times.

Anyway, for some reason, I get excited . . . until I saw the driver. It was your average middle-aged looking guy, just like everybody else. I was TOTALLY expecting, for some insane reason to see Steven Segal.

Now, I've never seen, nor have I ever heard of Steven Segal driving a Mountain Dew delivery van. I'm sure he could, based on his acting merit alone. I reasoned that it must be because of his new MD commercial. I realize this is a stupid story.

In summary, I saw a van marked with MD motif, and identified that with Mr. Segal.

Then I got to thinking . . . .

I wonder how many people look at me and expect to see Christ and are disappointed to see a "Christian" that is to Christianity as Steven Segal is to acting. I wonder how many of them see my markings from a distance and are disappointed when they get a little closer and realize that I'm not Jesus.

Grace. Do the Jew.

In Response to Broken and Molded

(Explanation: This post started as a comment on a friends blog - http://brokenandmolded.blogspot.com - but it wouldn't fit . . . so I put it here instead)

OK, so I'm not an American . . . I've been here for just over 2 years, and aside from watching your major networks growing up and knowing a much higher proportion of your states than your brother-in-law knows my provinces and territories, I'm not intimately aware of much in this country.

It gives me a little bit of a unique perspective though, to be following said election without the ability to vote, or reason to take a side, other than that of a concerned Christian. I've been sick of "Christians" saying that you HAVE to vote for Bush . . . I hear him pray and quote scripture but I certainly don't think that that means he's been God ordained to be the leader of the free world. The devil can do the same thing . . . no, I'm not calling Bush the Devil . . . don't even go there.

I'm sick of democrats constantly tearing down republicans without mention of a better way. Recently, it's come out that Kerry took his stand against Gay Marriage at the advice of Bill Clinton, who said that was the only way to court the evangelical vote. Personally, I think Gay Marriage is an important topic that could really benefit from more discussion that blatent disregard.

The other thing that I've noticed is this. Christians who aren't hardcore Bush almost ALWAYS apologize, or clarify their position when talking to other Christians. Example (names have been changed to protect individuals' identity):

Person 1 (American Christian Voter): There's a lot that I don't agree with. I think "this" about "that" and "that" about this . . .

Person 2 (Objective Canadian Observer): Ah yes. I see what you're saying . . . I also think "this" about "that" . . . . I don't know who I would vote for, if that was an option.

Person 1: Now, I'm not saying that I'd vote for Kerry . . .

That's the line I think I've heard around the office more than anything else. "Now, I'm not saying that I'd vote for Kerry." It's been the oddest thing . . . I wish I could tell you how many times I've heard that, and from how many people. Maybe its a genuine thing. Or maybe it's a part of a larger understood sub-cultural ideal. First of all, I don't care how you vote, that's the beauty of freedom. Secondly, don't apologize for having beliefs on a particular issue.

If I WERE able, I still don't know who I'd have voted for. I agree and disagree with various parts of each candidates' platforms.

I applaud you, Ms. Sarah! I think we could all benefit from the gift of an open-er mind . . .

A Naked Canadian

First of all . . . . NO, it's not me.

I read this this morning on MSNBC.com . . . it's pretty funny:

A Canadian man, angry that he was refused a plane ticket to Australia at Los Angeles International Airport, stripped naked, sprinted across the tarmac and climbed into the wheel well of a moving jumbo jet, officials said.

The man, Neil Melly, 31, tried to buy a one-way ticket on the Qantas flight on Monday evening, but was turned down because he could not supply a valid credit card, Castles said.

Later, he managed to climb over an airport fence, topped by three strands of barbed wire, without injury and was spotted by a ramp worker “running, naked, full-speed” toward the plane.

I posted this one, mostly for my family . . . . so they wouldn't start thinking wondering about me.

Weird Things to Think About As You Wake Up

I haven't figured out why, but I woke up this morning thinking about Catholocism. Not that I'm Catholic, and not that I really understand anything about Catholic theology . . . . but apparently it's so deeply seeded in my subconcious that sometimes it floods my brain(s) whilst I'm sleeping. I did watch Raising Helen which has a Lutheran Pastor in it . . . he was dressed kinda like a Catholic Priest.

So, anyway . . . I was thinking about confession . . . thinking about how symbolic it is, and even though many protestants rag on it because, "Jesus provided a direct connection with God, therefore we don't need to go through anyone else.", I think it has some merit.

I think like most other things in the religious world, it's a symbol that we've put too much emphasis on. We do the same things with other things too: Salvationists and their uniforms; charismatics and their speaking in tongues, etc. It's like we take our one piece of theology that we differ on and emphasize it so that people will know that whats different about us; what you get if you go to our church.

Confession, for example, is great. We need to be accountable to someone. I think it's clear from Scripture that we don't need anyone else to speak for us to be saved. It's not really up for discussion. But so many of us think (perhaps also subconciously) that that translates into doing whatever we want to, as long as we keep asking God to forgive us. But that's equally as described in the Bible. BUT, at least in my life, if I knew that I had to (or was expected) to go and tell my PASTOR that I'd be lying and lusting, I'd probably have some second thoughts about it. For whatever reason, we don't invest anything into the lives of others and we wouldn't think about have a weekly meeting with a friend to discuss our weaknesses and decide to do something about it.

Something to think about.

Grace.

Pump Up the Bass

It's a fish.

Not what you were thinking? The Bass . . . it's a fish. If you're still confused . . . you're not pronouncing the word correctly. Bass . . . Bass . . . looks the same, reads differently.

In any case, all that to say that there are new shirts at http://www.randomshirts.com. I'm a little excited about this . . . as there is a shirt that says "Pump up the Bass" and there's a picture of a fish and hook . . . . very funny.

I'm hoping my wife buys it for me. THAT is weird . . . I have a WIFE!

So . . . anywho, I love Randomshirts but I have just one . . . that says "Get Krunk". If you go to the site you can see it.

It's 1:22 PM . . . still no news on who the President will be . . . I'll keep you posted as I KNOW you're relying on ME for information. I'll do my best.

Grace.

Indecision 2004

Well . . . it's election day. The day when an entire country gets to pick who they want to lead them into the future. I have to say that I'm glad I can't vote, because even though I've been following this for a while . . . I wouldn't be able to pick between the two. I've listened to the debates and realized that no one has a clear idea of what to do with this country. So, luckily, being very Canadian, I can't cast a ballot anywhere remotely close to here.

It's very odd though. I feel like an undercover agent, or at least an objective observer. Working at an organization that has interests in who gets in, and working with people within that organization who have their own opinions, and watching them all clash is a great expereince. Nothing dramatic, I should add. No fights or violence . . . just interesting debates.

In any case, I wouldn't be satisfied with my vote, because neither of them universally represent what I believe. Either way I voted, I'd be thinking, "Yeah, but the other guy said this about that . . . " so it just wouldn't work. Things like Gay Marriage, Stem Cell Research . . I haven't heard a position that I agree with yet . . . and I guess this are fairly newly debated issues and I should wait and see what happens with it all . . .

This is boring. I apologize. I'll be more exciting later.

If you want to see some pics . . .

Hey people.

Still married. Still very cool. In fact it only seems to be getting better.

Interestingly, I was bringing Kristy to work a couple of days ago and, not thinking, I was about to bring her to the Gainey's old house (where she USED to live) . . . It was very odd to realize . . . "Wait a minute . . . You live with me now!"

Anywho, not much to say today, but if you want to see a couple of pictures of our wedding day (especially if you couldn't be there) go to this address:

http://home.earthlink.net/~desmondsmith/images/wedding-pics/

There are a couple of pictures there . . . hope you enjoy them. We were FREEZING trying to take them for you. Let me know what you think. I'll try to get our real pro-photos up once I get them.

Gotta go drink some coffee . . . mmmmm.

Things I've Learned This Weekend

They say married life changes you . . . I don't feel any different . . . but it's been 4 days now, and I have to admit that I've definitely learned a couple of things . . . things which I share with you now.

1. Two People are Better Than One - This is always true, or has been for the past 4 days. It's better going to sleep with another person in bed, it's easier to cook for two people instead of one, it's faster to clean up an apartment with two people. Two = good.
2. The fabric softener dispenser in my washer actually works - I always thought it was there for looks and/or to catch little pieces of stuff that washed out of my dirty clothes (lint, bubble gum wrappers, etc). Apparently there's a company called "Downy" or something, that makes stuff to go in there . . . And it helps your clothes be better. I'm all about the self-actualization of my clothing.
3. Decorative paper towels are great are beneficial for both practical and aesthetic reasons - Thank you bounty for making paper towels that coordinate with the seasons, and selling them under the guise of 'Big Roll' so that you can justify me paying $2.00 a roll to sop up my spilled coffee and wipe off my stove top.
4. I like being married - So far, so good. All new experiences, all fun, all good.

I'm sure I will learn more. Or that's what Kristy tells me anyway.

Thanks for all your prayers. Thanks to our families for all they did to make our wedding day spectacular. It really was so much more than we ever imagined.

Grace all.

It's Finally Here

I haven't been online much whilst at home . . . which explains why I've not been blogging. But, I've also been very busy completing my list of things to do, which I think I'm mostly through. Tim Horton's has experienced a fresh serge in business, as has most of the eastern Newfoundland economy (preparing for a wedding is expensive).

But, I'm sitting here, late on the night before printing our programs that we said we wouldn't wait 'til the last minute to to, and I'm realizing that tomorrow, my life changes.

Marriage is weird like that. Though, I guess that's a bit of an asumption on my part. But it's an anticipated change in your life. Most other dramatic things that happen in your life, forming type things, are unexpected . . . . but marriage you generally know is coming. So it's weird sitting here, knowing that things will change as of 13 hours from now.

There is still so much to do. I feel a little like I'm cramming for a final.

Mind you, a final that I will ace . . . in the sense that i'm not at all worried about the result.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

If we haven't seen you recently, we'll see you soon.

Grace.

Live Like You Mean It

So I'm very tired.

Backtrack . . . we were late leaving Charlotte . . . something to do with Chicago and delayed flights + rescheduling havoc = Kris and Des not getting to Newfoundland on time. We were literally going down the gateway to the plane when another Air Canada (THERE'S THE PROBLEM) agent was walking up saying that they had just taken the gate away from the plane.

"Luckily" Air Canada springs for a Hotel Room for both of us . . . note . . . 2 hotel rooms total, just in case you want to falsely accuse us. Not that you would. Anyway, the hotel. Wait, it wasn't a hotel. It was a dive comparable only to the castle of the King of Refuse and Putrescence.

So we get back on the plane this morning. Air Canada's programming, the En Route Journal (easily read in either french or english), showed a couple of things. So, even though the above problems were encountered, I had at least 3 insights that I will share with you now.

1. When I moved to North Carolina, I experienced a whole lot of horrible trauma in leaving Kristy. I honestly think I'm scarred for life. Here's why. Celine Dion has a song which has been adopted by Air Canada as a theme song and has put a montage of planes and airport scenes in the video for the song. The song is dumb, and corny. However, one scene that gets repeated is that of a couple saying 'goodbye' to each other in the airport. Like I said, very corny. Me . . . I can't watch it without tearing up
2. Live Like You Mean It: There was also an advert for a new channel called "Fine Living" which used "Live Like You Mean it" as it's tagline. Dont' know if I have been, but I want to. I want to live each and every day like I mean what I say . . . AND that I show that I want to live. It makes sense in my head. I don't want to exist or meander or stagnate. I want to live. And I want to act like I want to live. Spiritually, I want to live and act like I mean that commitment too. I've taken a very broad approach to analyzing this statement.
3. I'm finally here. Either way you look at it, I'm finally in Newfie-Land. And boy does it sure sound different. It's a very different world all around, but especially different sounding. Wow. I've missed the crazy accent though, and just general down to earth-ed-ness that this place has. There's definitely a different spirit here . . . and not necessarily a christian spirit; that's not quite what I mean this time. It's a mytique. It's a spirit of extreme perserverence in the face of hardships. A spirit of helping your neighbour because you know they need help. Down-to-earth, homey, friendly, funny Newfoundland. I've been a lot of places in my short time . . . no where touches this place when it comes to giving you a reality check, putting your life in perspective, helping your understand what's REALLY important in life . . . I love it. A Lot.

Sorry to bore you with that . . . but that's my material for today, what can I say. I can't wait for Saturday - can't say I'll be blogging much for the next little while after that. But I'll be back soon!

Grace.

My Home and Native Land

Greetings. Well, it's been an action-packed couple of days here for me. I've pretty much been on the road since Wednesday night, going to a school in Smithfield, NC (promoting a new brass program) then going to camp and setting up for our Music and Gospel Arts Festival, which was amazing! It went very well. Got to hang out on David and Julie's boat for a couple of hours in there . . . it's finally working . . . and it's fast.

TODAY, I GO TO CANADA! That's incredible to me. It still doesn't seem real. Perhaps because I'm not even started packing yet, and I leave in about 11 hours.

So here's a list of things I plan on doing in Canada, in no particular order:

• Drink real Tim Horton's Coffee - I have a real Tim's Percolator and it's tastes almost exactly like the in house coffee, but I want the aura too.
• Go stand by the ocean - I grew up a couple hundred feet from the ocean, I spent a lot of time on that cold, beach.
• Take Pictures - I'll try to take lots of pictures of lots of things and if you want to see them I'll show you.
• Eat All Dressed Chips.
• Eat Swiss Chalet - not really swiss . . . its rotisserie chicken . . . mmmmmm.
• Get Married - realistically, it's the whole reason for the trip.
• Drink more Tim's - If I don't have it every day, I'd be surprised.
• See people - people that I probably won't see again for a while.
• Hug my family - it stinks being so far away.
• Put money in my Canadian Bank account - Got student loans to pay you know. Stupid loans.
• Buy Atasol 30 - great pain killer with codiene in it . . . over the counter in Canada! Woo-Hoo. Please note that Desmond does not endorse the abuse of medication or drugs of any type and has no intention of taken said medication recreationally. It's a just-in-case scenario, and atasol is amazing. Granted, Pot is legal too . . . i won't take it. These statements have been made for humo(u)r purposes only.
• Sleep in at LEAST one day.

I'll add more if I think of any. But I guess I should go get ready for work. I'm only working a couple of hours today . . . got a few things to finish up. Then I've gotta pack.

Grace All, see some of you soon, some of you later.

Photo Art with Beef

I'm a big fan of cool photos. For my desktop, for example, I always need to find new exciting pictures to inspire me, whilst at work or play. I've had pictures of far away galaxies, majestic mountains, some creations of my own design . . .

Right now its "Cow Looking Sideways.jpg"

It's pretty amazing . . . a close-up of a black and white cow (front-right) looking off-screen to the left. She has a broken chain around her neck, and she stands against a back-drop of blue sky, white clouds, and green grass. The only other thing in the picure is a barbed-wire fence, in the direction that she's looking.

(Check out a scaled-down copy here)

I can't quite make out the premise of the picture . . . or at least I flip-flop according to my mood. On the one hand, I think she's looking back at what she's left behind; she's broken the chain, and avoided the fence and now simply turns for one last look before she continues in freedom.

On the other hand (a much more depressing hand), I don't see any signs that my heffer friend had to tackle any barbed-wire. She's almost standing there, daunted that she cannot defeat said fence. She's broken the chain, but even after all that effort she's still stuck inside her pen.

I've felt both ways many times. Neither of which are great I suppose. Jesus tells me I'm no good for service if I look back after I start my work . . . but he also tells me that not even barbed-wire can sustain his delivering power.

I just wish I knew what she was looking at.