Happy Birthday to Jim

On Tuesday I got to sing happy birthday to and eat birthday cake with J. I. Packer. Yup. Thought that was worthy of a post. He turned 80 this summer, so we had a belated celebration with him.

He preached at Regent's weekly chapel service. He surprised me. I mean, he's really old, slightly hunched over, very deliberate in his movements. But he sprang up there and just started rolling with this quick wit that had the whole place in stitches. I mean, he's a very funny man. Not something you'd expect from a legendary theologian. And then I find out that he loves hiking. Hiking, not mall-walking, or even street walking, hiking through the woods over rocks and around trees and through the mud. So Jim Packer: author of "Knowing God", one of the 25 most influential evangelicals according to Time magazine, old man, hiker and comedian. What next? Does Eugene Petersen knit and stutter? Stay tuned...

And did I mention that Jim is my neighbour? Well he is.

As per Mel's Request (see comment on previous post): Some Observations of Bus Riders in Vancouver (none of them good)

Vancouver busriders need to have a lesson on proper bus etiquette. The phrase, "please, move to the back of the bus," doesn't seem to make sense to them. They just look around, look back at the vast empty space between them and the back of the bus, then ahead at the crowd of people trying to squish their way on, then shrug and continue not moving to the back of the bus. What then happens is that buses 'fill up' rather quickly. And so for me, trying to catch the bus toward the end of the route, there is never any room in the buses. Of course there would be if people knew how to properly load a bus. And so I stand at the stop along with a host of other patient persons, and watch as bus after bus after bus flies by unable to pick us up. Needless to say, that gets rather frustrating after a while.
On a brighter note, the seats in Vancouver buses are much more comfy than Winnipeg buses. The bus seats here actually have cushions on them, nice thick ones. I could ride the bus for hours, if I could ever get on one...

Quote of the Week

The heavenly treasuries are indeed great: God cannot be measured in the heart, and he is incomprehensible in the mind; he who holds the earth in the hollow of his hand. Who perceives the measure of his right hand? Who knows his finger? Or who understands his hand - that hand which measures immensity; that hand which, by its own measure, spreads out the measure of the heavens, and which holds in its hollow the earth with the abysses; which contains in itself the breadth, and the length, and the deep below, and the height above the whole creation; which is seen, which is heard and understood, and which is invisible? And for this reason God is 'above all principality, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named', of all things which have been created and established. He it is who fills the heavens, and views the abysses, who is also present with every one of us.

- Irenaeus of Lyon
from Against Heresies

Greek to me

Alpha
Beta
Gamma
Delta
Epsilon
Zeta
Eta
Theta
Iota
Kappa
Lambda
Mu
Nu
Xi
Omicron
Pi
Rho
Sigma
Tau
Upsilon
Phi
Chi
Psi
Omega

There you have it. The Greek alphabet. Memorized by yours truly in the wee hours of Tuesday night. Who rules? I do.

Matthew. Winnipeg. MCS.

So here I am in Vancouver. I feel like I need to write some profound blog about the metaphysics of significant change. So I haven't blogged for a long while, waiting for divine revelation or something. I still haven't been struck by lightning so I figured I should just blog and get it out of the way and let life continue as usual.
This past week has been full of introductions. The repetition of three questions:
"What is you name?"
"Where are you from?"
"What program are you in?"
No one actually listening or really caring, but needing to say something and desperately trying to make a good first impression. I hate it. But I guess we have to do it. How else do you insert yourself into a new society of people? You ask and answer the superficial questions just to make contact of some kind. The meaningful meetings will come eventually. For now we make do.