Dried Glue in the Mouth

If you sleep the entire night with your mouth open, then when you wake up it feels like your mouth is filled with dried white glue. I found that out this morning.

Quote of the Week

(Yes, I know two in one day. Chesterton. Enough said.)
The simplest truth about man is that he is a very strange being; almost in the sense of being a stranger on the earth. In all sobriety, he has much more of the external appearance of one bringing alien habits from another land than of a mere growth of this one. He has an unfair advantage and an unfair disadvantage. he cannot sleep in his own skin; he cannot trust his own instincts. He is at once a creator moving miraculous hands and fingers and a kind of cripple. He is wrapped in artificial bandages called clothes; he is propped on artificial crutches called furniture. His mind has the same doubtful liberties and the same wild limitations. Alone among the animals, he is shaken with the beautiful madness called laughter; as if he had caught sight of some secret in the very shape of the universe hidden from the universe itself. Alone among the animals he feels the need of averting his thought from the root realities of his own bodily being; of hiding them as in the presence of some higher possibility which creates the mystery of shame. Whether we praise these things as natural to man or abuse them as artificial in nature, they remain in the same sense unique. This is realised by the whole popular instinct called religion.

G. K. Chesterton
from The Everlasting Man

Quote of the Week

There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place.

G. K. Chesterton
the opening line of The Everlasting Man

CRC

Yesterday for the first time since I moved to Vancouver I attended a CRC church. My buddy Brian and his wife Candice invited me. Its way on the other side of the city. We got there late. But the way that people looked at us when we marched down the aisle escorted by an usher to the seat usually occupied by some old matriarch of the church who happened to be away made me feel at home. There is just something about the CRC--the way the worship team leads, the way people modestly put their offering envelopes into the plate, the way that the kid who read Scripture read Scripture, the way that everyone exited the sanctuary afterwards and, after shaking hands with the domine, filed into the fellowship hall--which is just like a good pair of socks on a cold damp morning. I felt refreshingly at home and comfortable.

Quote of the Week

I turned to Alypius and cried out: 'What is wrong with us? What is this that you have heard? Uneducated people are rising up and capturing heaven, and we with our high culture without any heart--see where we roll in the mud of flesh and blood. Is it because they are ahead of us that we are ashamed to follow? Do we feel no shame at making not even an attempt to follow?'

- Augustine of Hippo
from Confessions (where else?)

Elevators

The other night I got stuck in an elevator.
Why was I in the elevator when I was only going down 4 floors? Should have taken the stairs.
Stuck for half an hour. Along with KC, Arthur, Julie, Richard, Jan, Lesslie-Ann, some lady from the UK, and Johnny, the 125 pound Great Perenese dog--the hugest dog I've ever met.
We glided to a stop a foot and a half below the second floor.
Pushed that little telephone button. Figured we would get put through to the elevator technician who should have lived on the second floor. Instead we get this call centre who knows where. Toronto probably. Hope the elevator didn't get charged the long distance.
Tried my best MacGyver resourcefulness. Couldn't unstuck. I honestly don't think MacGyver would have been able to bust out of that elevator. It was shut solid. There wasn't even that panel on the ceiling which is always so easy to punch out. No secret lever anywhere.
Annoying how impossible it was to get out of that thing. Seems to be symptomatic of Western society, can't fix anything yourself, can't trust anyone with potentially useful things.
We were in there for a long time. Got so stuffy. The four halogen lights in the impenetrable ceiling didn't help things.
In the meantime Richard told us a story of how he got hit by a 3/4 tonne pickup and walked away with only a concussion.
In the end we tricked the elevator into letting us out. Afterwards we ate dessert and talked theology.

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.

Quote(s) of a couple weeks ago

(Sorry, I've been rather busy of late. I had in mind to post these two quotes from kids at camp when I was there a couple weeks ago, but haven't had time, until this moment)

"I taste like pop!"

- Madeline Bruinooge
after having a pop fight during tuck

"Dear Jesus. Thank you that Dave didn't crap his pants and that it didn't run all over the floor. Amen."

-Brandon

Yup, I'm bored...and a dork

One of my claims to fame is that I can list the kings and queens of England/Britain in chronogical order from William the Conqueror to Elizabeth II, currently with a 100 year gap in the middle (but I'm working on slimming it). And because I don't have anything else to do (that's a lie: don't feel like doing anything productive) I will list them here for your enlightenment (off the top of my head):

William I (the Conqueror)
William II
Henry I
Stephen
Henry II
Richard I
John
Henry III
Edward I (the Longshanks)
Edward II
Edward III
...gap (I do know that there were 3 Henrys, 2 Richards and 2 Edwards, but the order is unknown)...
Henry VII
Henry VIII (and his 6 wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr)
Edward VI
(Bloody) Mary I
Elizabeth I
James I
Charles I
Interregnum (12 years of no king, after Charles lost his head)
Charles II
James II
William III (of Orange) & Mary II
Anne
George I
George II
George III
George IV
William IV
Victoria
Edward VII
George V
Edward VIII
George VI
Elizabeth II
(Charles III)
(William V)

If you would also like to memorize the British monarchs, as I'm sure you all are, I have inserted a link to the monarchy's website to the right of this very post (in the sidebar that is).

Reflections at the Midpoint

"Wherever you are, there is vice and wickedness," said Pierre to his wife. (War and Peace, pg. 678)

693 is half of 1386. 1386 is the amount of pages in the book I am currently reading. Page 693 has been passed and I am now therefore past the half way point in this world of a novel. Page 693 also coincides, well almost, with the climax of the book, or at least the climax so far. For some reason I'm like a football coach at halftime, asked by a reporter to assess how the game is going so far and what adjustments I'm going to make for the second half. Well, sort of.
It is going well I should say. It is a world of a novel because Tolstoy literally creates a world (I use the word "literally" in the Vaudrian [see below] sense) which you become a part of whether you are conscious of it or not. But it is not a world like the world of Lord of the Rings with maps and topographical descriptions you can smell as you read, with characters you wish existed. No, the world of War and Peace is a world of people like you and I and as you read their persons come alive in your mind. They come alive in such a way that if the person actually climbed out of the novel and shook your hand, you would immediate recognise them and wonder if you hadn't met them before. They come alive in such a way that when the novel is done, when the reading is done, you feel as if their lives should continue on and that you should someday recall a character and think to yourself, "I wonder what ever happened to that fellow?"
And so I continue on. I try to keep a balance between wanting to finish and wanting to enjoy every step and looking around as I read to take it all in. That's the tricky part about climbing a mountain: to keep one eye on the summit and the other on the ground you're walking on.
---------------
The word "Vaudrian" refers to Dr. Richard W. Vaudry, my history professor at King's. He is widely known for his constant and improper use of the word "literally", to the extent that it has literally lost all meaning whatsoever. A couple quick examples: "When Henry VIII first set eyes on Anne Boleyn, his heart literally melted" or "William Ewart Gladstone literally ruled Parliament with an iron fist".

Shirt and Tie

(If you came here to read the quote of the week and not my self-indulgent mental meanderings, scroll down. It's there...)

I hate making decisions. Today I had to buy a shirt and tie for an upcoming formal occasion. Sounds easy enough, right? Why are there so many colours? And how does the world expect me to know what colour looks good with another? Its too much. When I left my home this morning I did not prepare myself for having to pick one tie out of nine hundred. I don't know. Sure yeah, lets go with that one. Nope, doesn't bring out the right tone. What's tone mean? Beyond me. I think I would have committed an attiral atrocity had I not had a two wise and good looking advisers with me (namely, Shauna and the nice lady at TipTop) to select from the wall o' shirts and the table o' ties two items which look positively smashing. You see, decisions are easier to make when others make them for you and all you have to do is nod your head, "Absolutely, definitely brings out the right tone. And might I also add that the movement in the shirt plays very well with the voice of the jacket."
But then there are some decisions that life demands of you which you just have to make on your own. Those are the ones I hate the most. Because what if you make the wrong one? It makes it even harder when you have to choose between good and good. I've had a couple of those in the past little while. Go with the greater good, right? But define greater good. I just feel like you can list the pros and cons of any decision and make a rational choice based on those and still come out not quite as good as you could have. Because sometimes the best choices we can make are the ones which make such little sense at the time. Sometimes rationality doesn't know what she's talking about. Seems to me that the rational choice is to bury the talent in the ground.
We try as much as we can to follow the Will of God, but how do we know for sure? I've tried praying about things, but then it seems to me that God is not there just so we can go through life and never make a wrong decision. If the goal of living is to grow (according to e. e., that is) and the best way to grow is to make a few bad choices every once in a while then maybe bad choices are the will of God. Perhaps that's when God truly shows up.
And yet we can't go through life making bad decisions willy-nilly just expecting God to be there every time. He gave us brains to figure some of these things out on our own. And gave us community so that we can ask people for wise counsel.
Doesn't make things any easier though!

Quote of the Week

It is one thing to describe an interview with a gorgon or a griffin, a creature who does not exist. It is another thing to discover that the rhinocerous does exist and then take pleasure in the fact that he looks as if he didn't.

- G. K. Chesterton
from Orthodoxy

Quote of the Week

(Welcome to the newest feature of this blog. There are so many great quotes out there. Many of them play around in my head for days on end and give me real spiritual, intellectual, emotional nourishment. They make me think, or laugh, or cry, or go crazy. So I figured, why not share these with my faithful readership? I've optimistically called this "Quote of the Week" but if it slowly deteriorates into "Quote of the Bi-Week", "Quote of the Month", "Quote of the not sure when I did this last", "Quote of the oh, screw it already!" I hope you will understand. Enjoy. Think. Ponder. Laugh. Weep. Sing. Go crazy.)

----------------

Everybody wants to go to heaven,
But nobody wants to die.

- Loretta Lynn
from "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven"
(covered by David Crowder on "A Collision"
which I am listening to right now)

Why me and my digestive tract are no longer friends

So I went to the doctor the other day. News is not good. I had the sneaky suspicion that I have an intestinal aversion to dairy products. He confirmed that that was probably true and that for the rest of my life my cereal will have to be accompanied by soy milk or worse, goat milk. And no more ice cream. Sundaes and parfaits and blizzards and waffle cones, thanks, it was good. I'll miss you all.
If only that was it. The good doctor suggested my stomach might also have a thing against gluten. The one thing I didn't want my stomach to have a thing against. So I'm currently testing out his theory, trying not to eat bread. And I think he might be right. Damn doctors. How, I ask, am I to survive without bread? No more peanut butter and jam sandwiches? I live off peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I eat them for my supper and I eat them for my lunch. If I had a hundred sandwiches I would eat them all at once!
So looks like no more ice cream and no more sandwiches for me. Curses.
At least this has given me occasion to get reaquainted with fruit in all its various forms.
(OK, confession time: I'm writing this while at work. So I'm sitting in the music department and this girl steps up to one of the listening stations, selects a CD and proceeds to sing very loudly and very, very out of tune. I'm trying my best not to laugh.)
So in the end, even though my dietary lifestyle is crumbling before my eyes, I can still laugh at stupid children...

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

- Julian of Norwich

Thoughts while in Sara's living room hanging out with a few friends

So the title is quite a fact right now. Everyone is eating ice cream. I am not. Doctor told me not to so probably a good idea to abstain. Sara did make me a cup of coffee though, so I am not completely deprived. She uses Folger's. I'm not quite sure about that. I'm pretty stuck on Tim Horton's. Somehow the whole world of Maxwell House, Folgers, etc, I'm just not sure. Anything you can buy in a huge can for $4.99 I just don't trust. Tim Horton's will do. When I get enough money I would like to graduate up to Kicking Horse whole bean coffee. Pure pleasure in a steaming cup. Need a coffee grinder first.
We went out for supper this evening to celebrate Sara finally being fully certified to teach in the Province of Manitoba. Just needed that Latin American history course. Essential for teaching grade 5.
These are great cookies.
We are just discussing the finer points of blogging. Or maybe it's bloging. Not sure if its a soft "G". Basically all you do is just write. It's great.
We came here to play Settlers. We're still sitting here in the living room. I think this gettogether needs some directing.
"Fussily" - Margaret just said "fussily". Good word. Just thought that was worth noting.
About that Settlers game.....

Moving (Pt. 4)

The new house has been moved into. The old house has been wept over. I think I'll be alright.