Servolution to Move-o-lution

Apparently this is a book that's out for Christians to learn how to improve their service to their communities, cities and the world.  I'm all for getting off our butts and doing what should be natural for servants of Christ to do but something bothers me about it.  Granted, I haven't read the book, but as it was explained to us from the front on Sunday morning my hear sank a little and my internal "radical meter" was not interested.  To the presenters, it was the spark that got them serving sandwiches and juice boxes to a homeless shelter crowd on Wednesdays.  I am holding my sarcastic side back a whole lot, so I won't get into it but as my hubby and I were walking home from church we talked about it.  I said, "we need Move-o-lution not more servolution in Christianity today!".  Steve asked what I meant, "isnt' it good people get out and do kind things?"  I thought of the French Revolution.  "What is a revolution anyway?  It's a bunch of totally sold out (heart and soul) ordinary people who grab weapons, ideas and resources that they have and overturn and shake things up!!  Imagine what it was like in France at that time of revolution...heads rolled, yelling, chanting, people moving the existing barriers, willing to die for their cause!  If Christians are not heart and soul plunged into the Cause, the Core, the Reason for being....if they are not willing to MOVE into the tough places in radical spiritual obedience, its a sad pretending."  Servolution should turn into Move-o-lution....how about not just jam sandwiches on Wednesdays.  How about serving up some hot roast beef, gravey slathered spiritual banquet for everyone....one with radical movement and radical relationship building, every moment of everyday.   That is what happened to Steve and I  14 yrs agao as we were challenged by a spit-spraying preacher called Tony Campolo and we physically moved to a recently attained apartment next to our inner-city church.  Since then, we have discovered time and again our physical movement in a radical uprooting has been the spiritual adventure of our lives.  Let's trade in the Jam Sandwich Christianity, to the Deeply Satisfying Hot Roast Beef Christianity.....that's something to sink your teeth into!

Mooshee

Sometimes I don't know what the heck I'm doing here. Yesterday there was a couple who came up to me while I was waiting on the school step for Nate to get off of patrol. I was watching them for about 10 min as they had piled up cardboard, toys and boxes that was stamped with "Vodka" on the sides into little pull carts, across the street from me. The man helped the lady put on a kids backpack (small size) with a picture of Diego (from the show) and as their caravan was moving off, she looked over at me and then Cyclone. I said hi, but her eyes were only for the dog. She was instantly fascinated with her, and came over and asked me what kind of dog she was. I did my usual shpiel. Terrier, Samoyd (spelling?), Asian street dog...trying to keep the WHOLE story down to a minimum. She said she swears it was a Russian dog, the type that are extinct....and her eyes went misty..."like my Mushee, isn't it C.J.(to her companion), like my Mooshee". And tears started spilling down her cheeks. I was wondering if I should feel sad too, or counsel her through her grief of a lost dog, or hope Nate would come around the corner and rescue me. "Who was Mooshee?" I asked, hopefully compassionately enough. She told me Mooshee was the last Russian dog in the world, they are now extinct and she had had it when she was a little girl (on the farm??). She also informed me they used to roam wild in packs (in Russia) and would surround their prey, like wolves, and work together to pull them down. Interesting.....could Cyclone have a Russian dog species in her blood?? A few weeks ago, another, very knowledgable lady had said that Cyclone was very likely a Bosjee (heaven help us with these names). "What is a Bosjee?" I asked, feeling stupid for my ignorance. "It's the only laughing dog in the world. You check it out you'll see" . She gave me a knowing nod and off she went. I actually looked it up on line, and Cyclone does resemble a Bosjee (again the terrible spelling, I don't know!). So back to this lady and Mooshee.....she does pencil drawings and wanted to do one of me and Cyclone, any size I wanted. She wanted a pencil drawing of only Cyclone too, to remember her beloved by. By this time, I was feeling the conversation was getting a little long, I was committing to giving her the first pup Cyclone was going to have, and Nate had come and was waiting. Extracting myself with a promise of seeing them hopefully Monday after school, same time, same place....Nate and I finally headed home. Cyclone is apparently a hit in the neighborhood, she really brings out deep emotions in people. I wonder sometimes if dogs do community better then I do, they don't ask for it, it just seems to happen and I deal with the fall out. (That's why I carry a dog poop bag). After a visit like that, and getting home to a more familiar set of expectations can be a balm for me. Out in the neighborhood anything can happen, any conversation can turn deep or crazy or just a normal weather talk. Maybe it would be better if I could be like a Bosjee and only laugh.....

Lock Down

Sitting here, mini-pizza in the oven waiting for Jo but apparently he can't leave the school. I guess its the first lock-down of the school year and I'm hoping he's ok and not too hungry. The news on the street (and CBC) says that this morning a man had gone out to shoo some gang boys away from his back alley..they doused him with fuel and put him to light. 1st and 2nd degree burns....One of his neighbors said just last week, he was telling some guys to leave the neighborhood and got an eight ball in the eye (in a sock) for the trouble. Will he get up and move out, fed up with a neighborhood gone to pot? I doubt it, from the sounds of it, that's why he's there...being a voice for reason and safety. In a supposedly quiet neighborhood a friend stabs another in the chest and he's charged for murder...these are 15-16 yr old guys. Steve talked to a staff member in a local community centre who himself is one who used to be in trouble but now is giving back some positive life. With eyes watering up (it probably wasn't the smell of the onions in his sandwich) he shared with Steve the frustration and helplessness he feels when he hears stories like the one this morning.

Why are we here? Why is this young community worker striving for peace and a positive presence where he works? Mad Cow (name of an African led gang here) disease is biting feriously this fall, the anxst of young lives lived in anger, power hungry, making a scene...might be heart-pumping excitment for them but you could easily predict thier future. Hospitals, addiction programs, jails are full of the shake down at the end of that road. The big WHY looms, its not only in the West End...world wide there is alot of fear of terrorism and big crisis that affects us all. So do we move off the planet for a better neighborhood? There is no where else to go....and guess what, even astronauts probably personal junk they need to deal with too. We take it with us!

God forbid we loose hope, that h-word is the most underated one we have. "from a hopeless dope addict to a dopeless hope addict" one Teen Challenge ad has it. Hope still happens, its here, we are living it right now....that's why we live here (amoung other reasons, we happen to like lots of action). Hope in an ultimate frisbee game in the park next door with 10-15 kids coming out of the wood work, or a girl saying..."Can you hold my barbies while I swing?" and she doesn't know me worth beans, an encouraging chat with a friend trying to figure out her computer glitches, another friend has intentionally bought a house next to his that needs major repair and a couple is ready to move in out of a bed bug infested apartment....this is all in the West End, we grab and embrace hope here all the time. Meanwhile, Jo's school is still in lock down and I'm sure he's gonna be hungry when he gets home. I know he probably hoping for a good snack.....

First Contact Part 2

Wasn't sure what to write today. The coot cook-off we had on Sunday or my walk this morning. Ok, if you're curious....Steve and the boys nabbed 5 coot off the lake Saturday morning (well, he shot them, the boys hiding under a green "camoflauge" banket in the bottom the canoe, at 6:30 am!). We didn't know what they were at first (was it legal???) and then the bigger question, how to cook them! Recipes ranged from boiling it in an old boot and eating it together (helps the taste) or cooking it with onions and when its done, throw away the coot and eat the onions! Didn't look good, especially when we had asked some friends to come help us eat them before we knew what we could do with them....

We didn't have to worry, our friends were graciously and helpfully exuberant about its taste (after it was marinated to death with teriakyi sauce) and we had a great visit. Needless to say we had some fish and hot dogs available just in case!!

As for my walk, in half a daze (maybe it was that coot yesterday...)I got the kids to school. The wind is cold today, geese overhead honking and Nate pointed to the sky "Look mom, that one is taking over the lead!" Even from these city blocks, if we listen, we can hear them going by. While I said good bye to the boys, I glanced down the sidewalk to see if "Gazelle" was happening by. Like clockwork, she was there, this time wearing a backpack instead of a purse. Was this my chance? Looking toward her as she came up, she smiled...I realized she was missing a tooth in the front. I knew I looked like I just got up from a crazy dream but I went for it... "Hi, how are you?" She actually didn't look that tall from this close up, I thought. We briefly chatted, she takes her 2 kids to preschool and goes on to her school, English learning. She's from Sudan (she smiled as she said this) BINGO! I was right! She found it difficult to speak too much in English, so we switched to Dinka and had a great visit (just kidding!!!!). Gazelle has turned to Rachael. I expect we will meet daily, briefly. I hope she learns enough english to tell me her whole story, I thought as I followed Cyclone to her next sniffy spot. Sudan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Rwanda...the world of stories on our sidewalks. I can't imagine the pain, loneliness, courage of those we often pass by. I'm glad I know her name now, and that she knows mine.

First Contact

This is the 6th or 7th time I've seen this lady. When I first noticed her (who wouldn't?) she was wearing a bright colored dress, with a purse over her shoulder. She is tall, I'm talking 6 feet at least and her skin a beautiful deep black. Going to school this week, with the dog and kids, she's passed me by and I try to catch her eye to say hi... but she looks straight ahead. The thing that catches my breath the most is the way she walks. or should I say her relaxed stride. I saw her down the sidewalk coming towards us (half a block away), trees, concrete, school fence, children running to school around her but all I saw was an African savanna, dry umbrella trees and a slim, tall, brightly dressed Dinka women (staff in hand for the goats?) walking with a gait that eats up miles with no effort at all. That vision faded as she was passing by and I finally caught her eye, she mine and I said "Hi there!". She smiled, interest and happy surprise covering her face, and returned the greeting. On I went, on she went....first contact filling my heart with the wonder of mystery. Who is she? Where is she from? What does she think of this crazy Canadian scene? I have so many questions, so curious.

some weeks ago, I read about a Lost Boy from the Dinka tribe (from Sudan) that made it to U.S. as a refugee. Government supported tribal raiders came in one nite to their village and changed their lives forever with terror and death. He was one of thousands forming miles long lines of young boys, hounded by starvation and raids, trying to reach the border refugee camps. My heart goes out to this lady (I'll name her Gazelle), to the Lost Children....maybe she is one of them. I hope I get to find out, it might change my life....

Sunny Day

T0day Jo didn't wake up grumpy...there was homework issues last nite, so I expected an early morning cold shoulder. After dropping the kids off at school, Cyclone and I walked down Toronto street and actually experienced a moment of complete silence and calm. It was cool, the flora was flowering in so many yards and as we walked I sensed a sudden peace and rightness. We approached Ellice and the sounds, smells and broken concrete broke the silence and we seemed to back into the reality of the West End again. The local mosque advertised Ramadan, pawn shops and hair salons with their hand made posters in the windows...Cyclone straining after a chicken bone on the sidewalk...the stuff of reality!

The sun was in my eyes on the way home, its going to be a warm day. Steve and I are awaiting the Fathers familiar and wild Spirit to energize us today. We pray in our humanness and anticipate in the Divine. It is incredible that one day we can fly and other days sink deep.

"Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn"

from:
U2 YAHWEH

another day...make it Yours.

First write

This is my first text into my new blog site. Welcome to one and all to the wild wanderings of my days, weeks and years. I hope to have some pictures of family and friends...of my walks with Cyclone (our mixed breed mutt), and commentary of life in the 21st century of a world at war within and without. Maybe its just my 2 cents worth (or 2 loonies in current currency) but it fulfills the "sweet Spirit blast" within me to speak out (plus I take advantage of the free Blog making site)! I am NOT internet savvy, save for my email account and news items, Bruce Cockburn tour dates, U2 concert update, news on Myanmar, and finding out what pets are free on Kijiji Winnipeg....ok, so I'm a little savvy.

Be on the look out for a new book I'm writing called "Why?" (no due date yet). It will attempt to explain why Steve (my loving hubby of 15 years) and I do what we do here in Winnnipeg's inner-city and overseas in our favorite Asian military dictatorship ruled country. We have been in Canada (on a more permanent basis) for one year now and many have questioned the reason of our spews, views and actions concerning the places we have chosen to live, work and raise 3 kids. I think its quite simple, many do not understand...thus a book to explain it all!

I will hopefully keep this updated 3-4 times a week. Comments are appreciated but not sought after. Let's see how this thing works!

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