Friday's Feast March 7

Appetizer

If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?


I'm not a big fan of celebrities (I guess that isn't a pun?) so its hard for me to pick. Maybe Brittany - I would check myself into rehab for a week and get my stuff together to give her a head start!

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?

I much prefer emailing or in person. I like talking on the phone and can do it for a long time but I hate calling people that I'm not the best of friends with because I always picture me disturbing them. Email allows me to contact the person at their convenience - I just wish everyone liked using email the way I do.



Salad

Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).


For Erik and Minke's wedding we contributed to Doctors Without Borders and another one that I can't remember. We have also donated to our church, the World Day of Prayer, United Way and some cancer runs.

Main Course

What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?

Dessert

This is embarrasing but I love McDonald cheeseburgers. I think its the only food I could tolerate every day. I am a picky eater - one day I really crave something and the next I'm not interested.

Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?


My husband and I both had illnesses over Christmas but I don't think it was the flu. We both get a flu shot every year.

Guess Which Country

A blogger had asked for the stereotypes of his countrymen (yes, I know - the people of his country). Guess which country the following is about and the nationality of the person who said it:



They are very snobby, loud-mouthed and very vocal with their complaining. They complain about everything and demand that whoever compensate them. All they think about is drinking, smoking, and sex. Drinking is paramount and if you don't spend all your free time down at the pub or clubbing, then something must be wrong with you. I've seen parents with their kids in jackets playing outside the pub (because they aren't allowed in)but the parents "had to have that pint." The girls are as bad as the boys. There is no such thing as a childhood over here. I've seen three year old little girls in shoes with HEELS and they weren't playing dress up. She was imitating her mother. One other thing is the bad language. I'd never heard the "F" word actually spoken by someone until I came over here. Now its basically every other word! And they can't speak properly. Its all "I fink (think) , sommink (something) free-(three) fought-(thought) fru-(through) are just a few common words used instead of actually speaking them as they should be. I'm not talking about this being just slang...its used by young and old alike!



You probably guessed by the language that the person is talking about Britian (my guess specifically England). The nationality of the person - American.

What is Racism?

The United Nations uses the definition of racial discrimination laid out in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted in 1966:

...any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.(Part 1 of Article 1 of the U.N. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination)

I have really been struggling about what can be said and not said about a specific culture or ethnicity. I agree that different groups of people will gravitate to those like themselves whether ethnicity, religion, hobbies, economic status or even health status. The extent that we gravitate to those like ourselves vary in different situations - for reasons of religion we look for others with the same beliefs, for reasons of health we look for support groups. Some of the inclusiveness is a small part of our lives, other factors make it a larger part. For instance if I belong to a specific church that was built by a specific culture the effect of this will be based on whether I do things outside of that church influence.

My problem is what I thing is wrong to say seems to be acceptable to others. My beliefs on what you can and can't say to a person come from the way I was brought up. I was brought up to believe that there are differences among people but it is wrong to catagorize a group based on perceived differences. The culture that I share with my non-church friends seem to agree on what can be said and what is too broad a generalization. We are currently fighting the other extreme of political correctness which I might be guilty of. But in other circles things that I think shouldn't be said seem to be considered fair statements.

For instance I would never label any group as cheap. Even with solid statistics I would label a group as spending less than another group - I can't quantify the term "cheap". Considering how much waste we have in the Western world any other approach to consumption could be considered cheap.

I would also never label another group as smart. Again, test scores and occupations are the result of a whole host of factors that are environmental and economic. If I studied harder in school (and now) I could achieve much more. But, then again, how much achievment is enough?

I am really at the crossroads with this because my friends that go way back have a different idea of what can be said and what would be considered stereotyping and bordering on racism. I'm not sure if I am politically too correct or if my sensitivity to this issue is a good thing.

Cancellation of Good Friday?

Someone insisted that there is work underway to get rid of Good Friday as a holiday. This sounds absolutely unlikely and I'm wondering if it is the weird Easter Monday holiday that is about to be scrubbed. And I bet its because they brought in Family Day. Easter Monday is only recognized by a few workplaces - mostly federal and is not a stat holiday. The cancellation of Good Friday was given as an example of the secular world taking away the Christian influence.

I have yet to meet a non-Christian that wants to abolish the Christian holidays - I also had not Christians workers that were quite happy with these days because they get paid time and a half to come in and work!

I'm going to have to check this out - I'm pretty sure we would have heard from the Unions if Good Friday was about to be abolished.

Interestingly, Calvin College used to hold classes for the morning of Good Friday - I don't know if they still do.

Hello Kitty Strikes Again!

Hello Kitty is a craze I don't really understand - I guess you need to be of that particular subsection of the culture to understand the attraction. I thought the Hello Kitty toaster was weird, the microwave bizarre and the vacuum cleaner mind boggling. I mean, who cleans with a Hello Kitty vacuum? But above you can see one of the Hello Kitty wedding dresses. And in Japan you can have a Hello Kitty with a full theme of Hello Kitty. Even escorts in full Hello Kitty costume. 40 years from now will it still be cute - will their kids understand what they were thinking??

Talk About Bible Thumping

In Church History:

March 14, 1859

Eleven-year-old Thomas Wall refused to read the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments during his weekly required exercises at a Boston public school, so his teacher, McLaurin F. Cooke, whipped the boy’s hands with a three-foot-long rattan stick, pausing occasionally to give him a chance to begin his recitations. The beating continued for 30 minutes, after which Wall agreed to read as instructed. The Wall family lodged a criminal complaint, but the judge said that the Bible exercises were required by law so that young children could learn “humanity, and a universal benevolence, sobriety, moderation and temperance.” Complaint dismissed. History does not record whether the boy developed a deep reverence for the Lord’s Prayer, or whether he became benevolent, sober, moderate and/or temperate.

from http://www.wittenburgdoor.com/category/type/day-church-history (The Wittenburg Door is a favourite magazine of mine - yes, they do know they spelled Wittenberg wrong!).

A New Thing to Worry About

I have never seen a sign like this myself, but what a new thing to worry about. Not that I pick up hitchhikers but it just freaks me out that a sign like this exists!

Oops!

All this time I had thought that An Intern Exploring Ministry was blocked to general viewing - at one time it was by permission only. But apparently I screwed up somewhere and its out in the public.

That's the danger of blogging - you can really get yourself in hot water saying what you think is limited to a few and finding that its not just a few reading it. I'm struggling now with what to do with it - in reality few read this stuff anyway. But I have names and places that I would never name - so either I completely delete it or spend all night editing it.

Truthfully, I keep a blog because it forces me to be accountable in a way to a group of people. Just my friends really - but it is important for me to really question my own feelings before I post something. Is what I am thinking selfish, mean spirited, hurtful? And if I wouldn't want my friends knowing then I need to do something about it. Of course its easy to cheat - and huge gaps in my blog are usually because I can say so little. But I'm about to go into hibernation and blogging will be where I can work out some stuff. More on this in my next post.

One of my passions.

This is a sample of this amazing photographer's work that I came across on the Internet (http://www.pbase.com/rcalmes/profile). Ballet is one of my things - I never wanted to perform on stage but the precision of the dance is fascinating to me. I'm not artistic enough to appreciate the art side of it - the music and such, but the nuance of each move, even how you hold your fingertips in position has always made me want to dance. I loved classes but its not the kind of thing you can do as a hobby - to get to point work requires a lot of class time which we just couldn't afford and I couldn't obtain because we moved around so much. Watching performances used to enthrall me but now it is reminds me more of how much I would rather do it then watch it!

I'm a Military Brat

I am a Military Brat

My hometown is nowhere, my friends are everywhere.
I grew up with the knowledge that home is where the heart is
and the family....

Mobility is my way of life.
Some would wonder about roots, yet they are as deep and strong
as the mighty oak. I sink them quickly, absorbing all an area offers
and hopefully, giving enrichment in return.

Travel has taught me to be open.
Shaking hands with the universe, I find brotherhood in all men.
Farewells are never easy.
Yet, even in sorrow comes strength and ability to face tomorrow
with anticipation....if when we leave one place,
I feel that half my world is left behind. I also know that
the other half is waiting to be met.

Friendships are formed in hours and kept for decades.
I will never grow up with someone, but I will mature with many.
Be it inevitable that paths part, there is constant hope
that they will meet again.

Love of country, respect and pride
fill my being when our flag passes in review.
When I stand to honor that flag, so also do I stand in honor of all
soldiers, and most especially, to the parents whose life created mine
Because of this, I have shared in the rich heritage of Military life.
Anonymous

When To Speak Up

I went to this thing tonight at the church - it was supposed to be a place to learn about Judaism in light of the fact that we have many Jews living in our neighbourhood.

It was presented by someone who did not have first hand knowledge about Judaism but had been selected because of his role in the denomination to be a presenter.

The teaching process was that rather than tell us about Judaism we were to reflect in groups what we already knew about Judaism. The questions were:

practices and observations
similarities and differences between Judaism and Christianity
what is important to Jewish people

Rather then be taught these things we reflected on them in a group setting. I thought I knew very little about Judaism so was interested in learning - instead I received a hodge podge of individual thoughts - some of them very negative and many of them totally out of context.

I heard so many disrespectful things at my table that I could not remain silent - yet that seems to be the preferred response. Stay silent, be gracious. This frustrates me I have been criticized before for being too vocal so I'm trying to be quiet.

I wasn't raised this way - I was raised to challenge ignorance, not to condemn the speaker but to challenge the thinking. I was raised that to let people speak poorly of another group without facts or in context is racism and that it can not go unchallenged.

That the church would choose to let people say whatever they think about Judaism rather than teach us about Judaism is a strange choice. Can there be anything less useful then a bunch of Christians sitting around talking about something we know nothing about? And this isn't the first time - I sat through a session where the parishioner chosen to speak on an issue told us we needed to be very cautious because the Muslims are "infiltrating" Canada - that they are coming here to take over our beliefs (Christian) and to make Canada Muslim. I was angry at this - I have worked with Muslims who have been so grateful to come to Canada and they never pushed their beliefs on me but always took the time to explain their practices if asked.

So now I am torn, I really think that the discussion was unfit for outsiders to hear - I would have been very embarassed if a non-Christian or Jew was sitting in our discussion because we really came off showing our ignorance without learning from it. But when I say things I get the "look". We are taking another stab at Islam next week - I don't know whether to avoid it or go.