mattersofthemoment

In yesterday’s  RC gospel readings we are tought by Jesus to love thy enemy and to turn the other cheek when struck by an enemy. Treat an enemy like you want to be treated yourself.

What to make of this following the brutal killing of hundreds of civilians in Egypt, Lebanon and France alledgedly by ISIS terrorists.

Mitch Pacwa, SJ in his homily yesterday reminds us that anger and vengeance are emotions. Love and hate are choices. If we react in vengeance, we are feeding our ego and gain nothing. In fact we lower ourselves to the values or religious beliefs of the enemy, whatever they may be.

When we make a concious choice to love, yes even our enemies, we are following Jesus teaching. We still must and should protect ourselves against evil.

Let us hope that Canada can lead with love now and show the world the way to lasting peace for all.

A book published in 2000 jam packed with detailed information about various recent violent conflicts  that have tragically affected dozens of ethno-religous communities and challenged those seeking to bring about reconciliation and peace.  The ambivalence is about how often those with religious conviction use their religion and influence to either bring about the violence in the first place (e.g. jihad) or seek to mitigate it (e.g. the Catholic Community of Saint Egidio. http://www.santegidio.org)  Religious extremists can be on both sides of a conflict and fully justify it’s propagation in the name of God e.g., the current deadly Sunni-Shite conflict in Syria, the Catholic-Protestant “Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Suffice it to say that the author goes into excrutiating detail about the factions involved in a large number of late 20th century world conflicts like the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, Guatemala, Mozambique, Ireland, the Philippines, East Timor.  I could not get through it all.

I loved his analysis of militants and religious tolerance based on Diana Eck’s writings:

” Eclusivists” are enclave builders – there is only one way of understanding reality and interpreting the sacred.

“Inclusivists” hold that while there are many religious traditions, communities and truths, one particular tradition is the culmination of the others and is superior and comprehensive enough to include the others in a subordinate position.

“Pluralists” say that truth is not the exclusive possession of any one tradition or community. Rather, this diversity is not an obstacle to overcome but an opportunity for engagement and dalogue with others.

Religious communities such as the Mennonites have a strong call to peace and have been instrumental in teaching people how to bring about peace using their own local cultural tools and traditions. Powerful example. By contrast, Buddhists seeking inner peace are less likely to get involved collectively in conflict resolution work. And of course the extremist Muslim groups such as Hezbolah and Al-Queda are painted as the most intolerant and dangerous. The story of Islam reformer Abu Nasr Zayd is particularly disheartening: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasr_Abu_Zayd

Catholics have been world stage in bringing about peace e.g, Pope John Paul II in Poland and bringing down repressive communist regimes. However Appleby reminds us that in 1968 the RC Bishops in South America affirmed that Christians must pursue political justice, a statement that many took in support of liberation theology protests in Argentina, Brazil and elswhere. So called “Bible and Bazooka” groups.

I recommend this book for those interested in the interaction of religion, conflict and reconciliation as well as recent world history. An exhaustive read but formidable in its scope and insight.

I was summoned for jury selection this week and not selected.  There were 80 potential jurors there and my juror number was not called.  It took about 90 minutes to obtain 12 jurists and 2 alternates.

As I was sitting in the court sweating it – what if I get selected -?  It was for a sex assault charge that the judge said would take the rest of the week to conclude.

As I sat there, I decided that I would serve and not try to get out of my civic responsibility.  Now if it had been a trial expected to last several months, that would have been different.  The Superior Court sits in Pembroke, ON an hour by car each way from my home.

Everyone it seemed in that court room was sweating and praying they would not be selected.  About half those who were called up asked the judge to be excused for a variety of reasons – health, family, job.  It was kind of appalling to see.

Fortunately, a sufficient number of jurors did not try to evade their civic responsibility and were accepted by the opposing attorneys.

The judge was very accommodating and thanked us all for coming.  He went on to explain that it is every citizen’s responsibility to serve on a jury if selected – it is a corner piece of our democratic society – it can be a rewarding experience of bonding with others and reaching a common decision.  He also reminded us that now that we know how it works, to better clear the deck next time of upcoming responsibilities and be prepared to say yes.

I guess he is right but many of us don’t seem to consider this a desireable or worthy way to spend our precious time given all the other responsibilities we shoulder. It is all about time crunch!

Enough said.  Fulfilling one’s civic duties like jury duty or voting for that matter is not high on our bucket lists anymore.

My sincere thanks to all those people who do serve on juries and to those who work in the justice system for carrying out justice as best they can in a reluctant society.

Epilogue

After returning home I called Elections Canada because I had not received a voters card. Marie had. I was told I was not in the system at all. Sometimes this happens explained the service agent. Alas the online system for self-registering was down and I was told I can register the day of the election at the polling booth. I hope this is true as by then it will be too late to correct. A reluctant society – an ambivalent government.

I finally made it through this book.  It is the story of one of the American Civil War’s (ACW) most famous combat units.  It follows in detail the story of the men of Company B, 19th Indiana Regiment, 1’st Brigade, 1st Div, I Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac.  Noted for its strong discipline, its unique uniform appearance, and its tenacious fighting ability, the Iron Brigade suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade in the war.

They were known as the “Iron Brigade” because of their ability to stand up “like iron” to the most withering attacks of (Confederate) rebel forces on many a bloody ACW battlefield: Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Petersburg.  They were also known throughout the war as the “Black Hats” because they wore the black hardee hat issued to army regulars rather than the blue kepis worn by most other units.

The book tells in great detail often in the men’s own words what it was like to spend 4 years from recruitment to mustering out in an ACW infantry unit.  What I liked was the miniscule detail and anecdotal stories in the book. e.g.,

“When the regiment gained the top of the hill they were greeted by a terrible volley of musketry for a full brigade of rebel infantry. For a moment the line staggered.  The clarion voice of Lt. Col. Bachman was heard urging his men to hold the hill until reinforcements could come up.  The men rallying to his call began to fire into the dense mass of rebels in front; for 5 minutes they held the hill……In those 5 minutes one-third of the line had fallen.  Still Bachman cheered them on.  A rebel bullet struck him and he fell to rise no more.” (p186)

What I did not like about the book was the pausity of maps and illustrations to help follow the story line.

All in all it was an intriguing read for someone who follows the ACW closely.  As a member of the Ottawa Civil War Roundtable, I enjoy monthly get togethers to talk with some interesting people about ACW battles, events and the could have beens: http://www.cwrtottawa.ca/

I was initially attracted to this subject some 20+ years ago when I visited the Antietam Battlefield park in Maryland, only some 600 kms from home.  How could a liberal democracy of Christians, descend to the level of depravity and actually kill each other by the hundreds of thousands over political differences, right in our backyard?  I still ponder this question, now perhaps more than ever given the quagmire we are in at present.

Coming into Mytilene, the capital.

In 2008 Marie and I had the pleasure of visiting Lesbos, the Greek Island where 4000 Syrian refugees are now fleeing to each day.

We were only there for a few hours while on an Eastern Med cruise.  I remember being excited about embarking in Greece for the first time, even if Lesbos is off the main tourist route and lesser known.

It was a peaceful place with plenty of young and older folk and fresh fish in the marketplace.  Here are a few pics from our brief stay there.

The port is pretty laid back.

A quiet side street.

St. Therapon Church, dating from the early 19th century.

The altar. A mix of Byzantine, Gothic and Baroque elements.

Fresh fish store.

A thriving young community.

Things are not so calm there now.  Lesbos is about 10 km off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea.  Thousands of Syrian refugees are making the hazardous voyage in rafts and rubber dinghies every day.  Just today another 34 people drowned when their boat flipped however this was near a another smaller island further south.

What to make of the Syrian refugee crisis?  They need the world’s help and they need it now.  However it seems even Germany now is reaching the breaking point of handling the influx of migrant families.

What is going on?  We all understand the humanitarian crisis as millions flee from war torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.  However it is much more difficult to understand who is fighting who in Syria’s civil war and what is the likely outcome.  I fault the Canadian media for not better explaining to us what is being done by Canada and our allies to thwart ISIS and Al-Queda in their relentless pursuit of world chaos.

A particularly detailed article about what may happen if Damascus falls to ISIS is worth reading: http://observer.com/2015/09/how-the-dominoes-will-fall-after-isis-takes-damascus/

I support increasing and speeding up the entry of Syrians and other legitimate refugees into Canada.  I also think we should be using our military to fight ISIS and Al-Queda with the goal of ending the violence which threatens to overwhelm the western world.

One of my passions. I went back today to play the 9 hole Pine Lodge course in Bristol, PQ but more on that later.

I was exposed to golf at an early age. My dad used to play all the time and was a member of the Rivermead club in Aylmer. As long as I remember he practiced in the backyard hitting the ball into a neighbours lot and back 3 houses over. He played every Sat, Sunday and Wednesday PM. In the spring he would head to Pine Needles, SC and play 36 holes a day with his buddies to get ready for the Ottawa season. He putted in the living room and gripped dog bones to strengthen his grip during the winter. He had grown up in McKellar Park. I still have a hole in one plaque he was awarded as well as a trophy he won at the course there in the 30s as a boy.

So I had a lot of encouragement to play. My first recollection is in 1962 when I was 12. Mom, Kim and I went to Pine Lodge for 2 weeks and I played on the 9 hole course everyday. Dad would come up on the weekend and we would play again. Later I used to go down to Woodroffe HS football field with a club and hit balls back and forth.

I caddied for dad a few times when I was old enough. I remember most holes on the Rivermead. We also played at the 9 hole course near Kemptville when visiting the Frisbies cottage.

In University I did not play as much due lack of time and money.  After graduating and moving to YVR I started playing regularly at UBC and Burnaby Mountain Courses with my Imperial Oil buddies. Then after returning to Ottawa I played a lot all over Ottawa with my Measurement Canada and Industry Canada buddies.

Now being retired I can play whenever I want, and do some 25 times each year.  So today I met friend Paul in Norway Bay and we headed to Pine Lodge for breakfast. Then we rented a cart and played 9 holes with 2 balls as Paul drove the cart and advised.  It’s a short narrow course but I did OK.

Golf is an adventure! Every time out there is the possibility of a perfect game!  Of course this never happens unless you are a pro.  Today was great playing those old holes – nothing has changed much since the 60s or even since the 30s when Mom first went there.  I love the feel, the smell of nature, the banter, the views and the green, green, green of the fairways and greens.  I am hooked Dad!

Love to play with you any time anywhere.   Fore!

Henri Nouwen says:

“The poor have a treasure to offer precisely because they cannot return our favors. By not paying us for what we have done for them, they call us to inner freedom, selflessness, generosity and true care. Jesus says, “When you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you and so you will be repaid when the upright rise again.” (Luke 14:13-14)

The repayment Jesus speaks about is spiritual. It is the joy, peace, and love of God that we so much desire. This is what the poor give us, not only in the afterlife but already here and now.”

Henri Nouwen

Bread for the Journey

August 20

Paul at his best.
1 And that’s about it, friends. Be glad in God! I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry–so here goes.
2 Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances–knife-happy circumcisers, I call them.
3 The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it–
4 even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree:
5 a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law;
6 a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.
7 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash–along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ.
8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant–dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ
9 and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ–God’s righteousness.
10 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.
11 If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
12 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.
13 Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward–to Jesus.
14 I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.
15 So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision–you’ll see it yet!
16 Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.
17 Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal.
18 There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross.
19 But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
20 But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

When I was 11 and 12 years old, my parents sent me to Frontier Ranch two summers in a row for a 2 week camp holiday.  Frontier Ranch was a western cowboy camp where we learned to ride real horses and sing Koombia around a camp fire. Located on 400 acres of land on Loney Lake near Arnprior, in its heyday, Frontier Ranch had 120 brood mares and three stallions, any boy’s dream.

It was run by Lyle and Florence Jeffrey.  It was a real Christian camp, the Jeffrey’s being Baptists, were very serious about their faith.  Florence grew up in Westboro, and at 15 left high school to look after her mother.  When she was 16, Florence began working as an inspector at Modern Containers. At 20 she married Lyle Jeffery, a man she had met when she was 15.  Before the birth of their second child, Lyle enlisted in the Navy. Serving in the North Atlantic, he was gone two years.

When Lyle returned from the war, he created a line of suitcases called Jeff Flite out of the basement of their Ottawa home. Recognizing a promising and growing business for Arnprior, Mayor Bob Simpson invited Lyle to build a luggage plant. Jeffrey Luggage Ltd. was built on McNab Street, and the business grew to employ 23 people.  Following a family trip to the Calgary Stampede, Florence and Lyle decided to create a Christian ranch camp for children. In 1957 they bought wooded land on Loney Lake, and opened the ranch in 1958.  Lyle, who was such a resolute Christian that he thought nothing of telling off strangers if they took the Lord’s name in vain. Mostly, people apologized, but a few snarled back and, once, it earned him a bop in the chin.

My mother was connected with the Ottawa Presbyterian church community and must have heard about Frontier Ranch.* So off I was sent for a week in 1961.  Well after getting over my fear of horses, I learned to ride and quite fell in love with “Black Sambo”.  Black Sambo was a smaller gentler horse that did not try to rub your legs off on the fence posts nor take your head off by running under low hanging branches.  I made some new friends and liked the food and crafts.  When my parents came to pick me up I pleaded to be allowed to stay a 2nd week, and they let me.  That is not Black Sambo below and I am looking more confident than I felt.

The next summer I came back for a 2nd stint.  On the first day I think it was, I was swimming to the raft in the lake with a new friend.  He started to struggle and when I went to help him he pulled me under.  I thought I was going to drown.  One of the Jeffrey boys came to our rescue and properly grabbed my friend from the back of his body and pulled him to safety.  I was very shaken by this.  Another time I was in the motor boat and who ever was driving (I think it was one of the Jeffrey boys again) made a series of sharp turns.  The motor fell right off the boat and sank to the bottom of the lake. Well, that was an adventure too that I will never forget.  I can still hear the gurgling sound the motor made as if disappeared below the boat. Ha!

I learned a lot about my fears at Frontier Ranch and also how to overcome them.  It was a tremendous experience the county side was extraordinary.  I can still see those circular low growing juniper bushes and the horse trail that ran through them.  One of my childhood experiences I will never forget.  The irony is now I am living in Arnprior, not too far from where all this growing up occurred.

A feature article about Frontier Ranch appeared in the Canadian Weekly in June 1962, the Toronto Star weekly magazine.  I knew fellow camper David Schryer at the time but have not seen him in many years.

I am indebted to a February 2014 article in the Arnprior Chronicle-Guide about Florence Jeffrey:

http://www.insideottawavalley.com/opinion-story/4354533-tales-from-island-view-florence-jeffrey-has-enjoyed-a-fulfilling-life/

I also came across this blog article by her grand daughter with some nostalgia pics.

Finally, one of the Jeffrey boys – David whom I must have met – went on to become a famous professor at Baylor University in Waco, TX.  Here is his story.

In the moment, I am very grateful for everything Lyle and Florence Jeffrey did for me and for my friends.  I still love you Black Sambo.

* May 2, 2022. It has now occurred to me that my mother was great friends with Jean Frazer who was Lyle Jeffrey’s sister. The Frazers lived near us in west Ottawa and I was friends with Steve Frazer in high school, Jean’s son. So that is how my mother must have learned about Frontier Ranch and how I ended up there. I remember Jean well too and visiting their cottage on Big Rideau Lake.

Is the title of the small book I lost and have now found again.  It is by Christian apologist Francis A. Schaeffer.

It is a thin book that traces how the 20th century mentality (secularism, pornography, substance dependence, atheism, existential nothingness) came about.  Trends in philosophy and art have reflected a dualism between nature and grace in Western thinking from Thomas Aquinas to the early 1960s.  So how can the Christian faith be made meaningful today?

The story line starts with Thomas Aquinas who in explaining the Fall of man due to original sin (i.e., our separation from the personal God creator), had left man’s intellect intact. This was a fatal error according to Francis which set off a chain of events that has led to many of society’s problems today.

An endless stream of philosophers then took up the challenge of  trying to use their intellect to find a unified theory of truth and knowing and failed. Hegel came along and said the method being used was the problem.  He recommended thesis-antithesis-synthesis.  According to Francis, this explains why parents and children do not understand each other.  Their frames are totally different and the methodology has changed.

Nature (below the line) ate up grace (above the line). So in today’s world, advances in science have led many people to give up any notion of a supreme being. Man is the supreme being for many today. There is no God hiding in the shadows any more. Life is ultimately meaningless and has no purpose. Our intellect is the only thing we can be sure of. However, increasingly society despairs of the strictly rational approach to thinking that has led us to this kind of life.

He then talks about “the leap”. For Francis, the Bible is the only “system” that points the way to a purpose in life, namely reestablishing our lost unity with God the personal creator. One must let go of one’s intellect to allow grace to due it’s work in each of us to permit faith in the irrational to bloom.  Fortunately we have the Gospel that enables us to make this leap and reconnect with the personal God creator who gives reason and meaning to our lives.

Rather than try to explain any more what this book is about, I give you two reviews.  One positive, one not so positive.  These are from people much more able than I am to situate Schaeffer’s thinking.

The first is from Stephen Sawyer of AZ at:

http://www.amazon.ca/review/R2WSHUBKGWWI1F/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2WSHUBKGWWI1F

The second is from David Haines of QC at:

http://www.amazon.ca/review/R2R7G2OZRH0L8F/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2R7G2OZRH0L8F

In the moment, I think am going to have to read this book again to grasp its full meaning.  4 out of 5 stars.