Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree …
Yes, this is it…
Hubby cut the angel off at the top. It was a good day. Everyone got up early to go shopping for goodies. I went and bought some new ornaments and a tree skirt for the tree this afternoon.
We decorated the tree and it looks wonderful. I also finished that God Forsaken Sophia paper this evening. All 19 pages of it – if that ain’t good enough then that’s too bad. I also finished my book review. It isn’t a piece of academic prowess, because I can’t use high language, but it will do I hope.
That means I only have my Origen paper to write which is due on the 9th.
That’s all for now.
More to come, stay tuned…
Rainy Days and Fridays …
It’s raining, wet and cold today. Drizzle Drizzle Drizzle … I didn’t want to get out of bed today but alas, I had that appointment with Prof. Scott over my Origen paper. I have done some preliminary reading of a text that I picked up at the library – but even Prof. Scott told me that it would do me no good. So what did he do? We checked the library for texts – none were to be found … so much for a university library stocked with all the latest books and archives.
He then perused his own personal library there in his office and pulled 4 books off the shelf and told me that he would photo copy everything that I would need for my paper… That was very kind. Some of the reading that he copied me was written by our esteemed professor of Theology Charles Kannengiesser, whom I took Trinity with last summer. So it looks like I am on track for this second paper.
We also talked about god forsaken Sophia. I told him that I thought that I had exhausted all of my sources for material and came up 5 pages short of the goal of 20 pages and he suggested that I write a 5 page critical analysis of the material that I used covering the major themes and crucial ideas. I think I can do that. So I will do that over the next couple of days. The paper isn’t due until Tuesday.
I stopped by the library to drop off all the books that I had checked out and wouldn’t you know it, the university has already put up their Christmas trees in all the downtown buildings. I noticed that many of the shops on Ste. Catherine’s Street are decorated as well. It doesn’t feel like Christmas yet, but I know that hubby wants to put the tree up this weekend… OY VEY !!!
I think that’s all for the moment…
More to come, stay tuned…
5 More Pages !!!
What did I do today??? I worked on that god damned paper on The Role of Sophia in Gnostic Cosmogony. I worked all evening long. More than three hours worth of reading, typing, checking and double checking.
I went over all of my quotes to make sure they were in order – I even begged my prof for less pages and he said NO! I need 5 more pages. I spent an hour going through the EBSCO services and JOURNAL features at the library looking for shit to fill 5 pages…
God give me strength …
I also pulled my book review together and I think it is finished to the best of my ability, with that reading at least. It isn’t spot on and I could not compete with the language of the text, I just don’t write that “high” at all. So I may have to reread it and do some quick revisions before Tuesday night.
I am working on Origen. I like Origen, but I need more source material. I spent last night reading a book I pulled from the library, but it only gives hints at the material that I really need – that would be Christology according to Origen.
I have an appointment tomorrow to meet with the department scholar on Origen at 2, so maybe he can help me with my source material.
We are so close to the end I can taste it, but not before I finish Origen. Classes end on the 9th of December. That’s when the last paper is due. I need to squeeze my ass and get this paper written sooner than later … If I get pointed in the right direction tomorrow then I can pull it together. I got some good advice from a few of my readers so thank you all for your academic advice.
I missed the parade today… And I didn’t get to watch any football…
Did you see Glee last night??? Did it make you cry?
Only two episodes left until the very very very long hiatus until April 13th
More to come, stay tuned …
Academic Challenge …
I have been writing my final paper for Gnosticism these past two days and I am finding myself academically challenged. I have all my sources here on the desk and I am busy writing and I got to a point that I had to stop because for the life of me I could not figure out how to paraphrase this stuff. I mean I can rip whole passages from a book or my print articles but really … I have no idea how to put into my own words what the book is saying it is just too much for me.
So I am going to talk to my prof tomorrow after class. I am also working on my book report that I started writing at the same time. That’s 30 pages of paper if you are counting correctly … I know how to write 30 pages of paper when I don’t have to quote from a book or article. I guess I need to remember how to write a paper. My brain is starting to ease up now that I took a break…
Things may be a bit slow around here until the end of the week as I finish up these two projects so stay tuned …
UGH !!! I need a vacation … 3 weeks to go …
Symphony of Science Videos…
Symphony of Science – ‘We Are All Connected’ (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye)
Carl Sagan – ‘A Glorious Dawn’ ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed)
One down – Two to go
What Is Gnosticism – by Karen L. King
Last night I finished reading this god forsaken book. 237 pages took me forever to read. I spent more time looking up definitions of words than I did reading the book. Now I have to write a 10 page review of the book. I’ve got Sophia in the works and I should get that done this week and then get into Origen. I may be fucked on that topic, I don’t know yet. But I do know, more reading is on the way.
It has been a quiet weekend here. The grind for the end of term is on and I am working every day to finish these projects on time. I have been told that as a Graduate Student I can ask for an extension if needed, but I am trying to stay on course.
Happy Sunday …
Oprah Winfrey to end talk show in Sept 2011
LOS ANGELES, Calif. –
Oprah Winfrey will announce on Friday that her popular daytime talk show, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” will end its run in 2011, Tim Bennett, the President of Harpo, announced in a letter released to ABC affiliates on Thursday.
“Tomorrow, Oprah will announce live on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ that she has decided to end what is arguably one of the most popular, influential and enduring programs in television history,” he wrote in the letter, obtained by Access Hollywood. ” The sun will set on the ‘Oprah’ show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011.”
Bennett said he was sending out the letter to keep the affiliates from being surprised at tomorrow’s announcement.
“Before she speaks to her loyal viewers, we wanted to share her decision first with you – our valued partners for more than two decades,” he wrote.
And he urged the stations to “share this news this evening with your colleagues and viewers.”
“Oprah’s personal comments about this on tomorrow’s live show will mark a historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come,” he added.
Just a few weeks ago, a rep for Oprah said the TV queen planned to make an announcement by year’s end about whether she was planning to make a leap from her current daytime talk show to her previously announced cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
It appears the decision was one that was made only recently. Just two weeks ago — at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York City — Oprah’s best friend, Gayle King, said Oprah was still weighing her options.
“I know she’s thinking,” Gayle told Access. “I know she’s thinking.”
But Gayle said she wasn’t playing advisor over the decision, just longtime friend.
“Listen, Oprah and I have been friends since we were 21 and 22 and now we’re 54 and 55,” she said, citing her and Oprah’s ages, respectively. “We talk about everything but she’s a big girl. She will make the decision that is right for her. No question about that. Whatever that is. It’ll be the right decision for her.”
Previously, at the September Toronto premiere for “Precious,” a film Oprah executive produced, Oprah revealed she was still putting in the deliberation hours.
“I haven’t made a decision yet and I have until the end of the year,” she said. “But you know I think that deserves more thoughtful consideration than a red carpet.”
No details were available about the rumored move to OWN and a rep for Discovery was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Access.
Sophia …
“I am the Protennoia, the Thought that dwells in the light. I am the movement that dwells in the all, She in whom the All takes its stand among those who came to be, she who exists before the All… called by three names, although She exists alone, since She is perfect, I am invisible within the Thought of the Invisible One, I am revealed in the immeasurable ineffable things. I am intangible, dwelling in the intangible. I move in every creature.”
Sophia is coming to fruition now…
Sunday Sundries…
It has been a very productive day today. The weekend has been very quiet and uneventful. We have been busy reading… That’s all we have been doing, reading like mad men. Thank God for electronic library systems. I needed more articles from my bibliography for my Sophia paper, so I logged into the system, and for some reason I did not have any problems accessing the massive main frame on campus.
I was lucky today in finding the articles that I did because they were right on the money. I think I am closer today than I have been as of late to beginning to write that paper. I am feeling a little more confident than I have been lately. I have to follow the paper outline that we were given and that should be ok.
It has been wet and cold here, it rained yesterday and today and it was foggy last night which is always interesting because we live so high up in a tower here, the clouds seem to hug the building tops coming down from the mountain.
Not much else going on here today. I’ve added the new geo-locator function to the blog.
Time to go for now… more to come, stay tuned…
DOH !!!
I spent all afternoon on campus today looking for books and articles for my term papers. We can search the stacks from home because we have electronic access to the library so that is what I did last night. Look for books and request them for pick up.
Origen of Alexandria was becoming a pain in my ass because I could not find any texts of what I needed, so I went to the department again today and then I thought that I could ask one of my prof’s if they had a copy of Origen’s On First Principles, which he does, so I am going to pick that up on Friday.
I went back to the library to double check my sources and I thought that if i put a title into the generator that it would tell me where to go look for it in the stacks. So that’s what I did. I haul my ass up to the stacks and find a stool to sit on while I look up the shelves for my books, I had my reference numbers on hand and I had written them down incorrectly. I was in the right spot but the book seemed invisible. So I walk back down to circulation and ask a librarian for help to find it. As we were walking back up to the stacks I said to her, “watch you are going to walk back up here and find the book right where I was looking to begin with – and there the book will be.”
She told me that her record was 80% positive that she finds every book that she looks for and wouldn’t you know it, right there on a low shelf tucked in between two old volumes was the book I wanted … I was so embarrassed.
Me so Dumb …
I came home and started to peruse my books to see what was in them, I did not think the look through the six books I checked out before I left the library. I decided to stick with Origen so I did not need any of my Irenaeus texts. I looked over the other five and decided that I would keep three of them and return the others.
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I got an email from one of my customers who was freaking out about a package that I mailed last week, what a nightmare … I spent an hour on the phone between Canada Post, the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Customs trying to figure out where my package was. nobody had an answer, but they gave me a target date of the 17th before I could file a lost package ticket. People want their packages quickly and the holidays are coming and the mail service going to other countries is already beginning to back up. I’ve got two going Canada Post and one going Fedex. All are in the pipe and I am powerless over them right now and that’s what I told my client today. I don’t think she is happy, but she hasn’t requested a refund for her purchase yet, so that’s good. I need the hundred dollars right about now, and my account won’t release those funds until that package is delivered or I refund the payment. So we wait for the 17th to roll around …
After I got that out of the way I went back to my books and started reading through them a little bit. Hubby came home and I got dressed again and walked back up to the library to return the books I did not need. You don’t sit with books on the dining room table during paper season. If you don’t need your books then turn them back in. I made two trips out to campus today, thank God it wasn’t that cold out.
I think I am ready to work on my “What is the role of Sophia in Gnostic Cosmogony” paper and my “Christology and Origen of Alexandria” paper.
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Tomorrow is Friday the 13th …
I think that speaks for itself. People are getting crazy before hand and I can’t get caught up in their insanity. One must remain detached and level headed. On the way home from campus I went to do a little supermarket safari for dinner. I haven’t been in the mood to cook, so I got a box of chicken for dinner, everybody likes chicken finger… Last night we went to Micky D’s for dinner, I could not be bothered to cook.
Well, that’s that for today …
Wait for it … a little video blast from the past…
Depeche Mode – Strange Love US ’88 HQ
Wednesday Words…
My arm is still hurting from that shot I got on Monday. And I am feeling tired mostly, I have hit the sack early for the last 3 nights. Today is Remembrance Day and all over Canada we stopped to remember those who have fallen, and also for those who serve. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood for people to gather at various monuments and parks across Canada.
I spent the day doing research for my two papers. I spent a couple of hours at the Department going through all the research books that we have available to us there. I started working on Irenaeus and that led me to Eusebius of Caesarea which led me to Origen of Alexandria. I have to come up with a paper based on someone from the first millenium, and after doing all the reading I did today, I might move from my original topic of Irenaeus and work on Origen, since I am already familiar with his work from my Trinity class over the summer.
I think I can pump out a 15 page paper on Origen and Christology. I am working on compiling articles and journals, I went to the library to look up more books… I already have a stack of books here on the dining room table that I am reading through now and put a few more on reserve at the library.
I am also working on my paper on Sophia and her role in Gnsotic Comogony. I have worked from my bibliography today and reserved more books on the topic. I am reading Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza’s Jesus, Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet – feminine theology. So much reading so little time.
So that was my day in brief …
I will have more tomorrow. More to come, stay tuned …
Healing Words …
Luke 17:11-19
Ten Healed of Leprosy
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Where are the other nine???
Jesus has several encounters with people called the Samaritan’s – the woman at the well, the ten leppers and other instances. The Jews and the Samaritan’s were not on good terms, yet Jesus, as was written, treated them as he would treat others on his journeys.
John 4:4-42
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Healing is the theme for this post and I like to share this other passage from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 5 … Mark 5: 25-34
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ “
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Tuesday Tottling …
Photo Credit: Bill German, Walking on Scorpions
There is no better example of a man, than this. Bill took a series of photos from the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco not so long ago. He is just beautiful.
I got my shot yesterday, and I have to say that by the end of the night, my arm was hurting me so badly, I had to lay down and sleep. I was kinda fuzzy and feeling very exhausted since I did not nap yesterday as usual. I went to bed early and missed my late night radio and I did not read one word for school either. I guess I should do that this afternoon before class tonight.
I got up this morning without a problem. I don’t feel anything strange. Maybe my body is doing what it is supposed to be doing, building immunity… I had to make a trip into the core to visit Fedex for a client. I HATE using Fedex, it is just a nightmare. I had to fill out all these forms just to ship a simple pair of shoes to the U.S. I don’t usually do this for clients but I wanted to make a sale and hopefully I did what was necessary. It’s not like Canada Post, one form does it all and no brokers, shipping info, shoe maker info and a questionaire about how the shoes were made and where they were made and why I am shipping them!!! Just take the god damned box and be done with it already.
I won’t be doing this again…
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One of my friends is in med school. (Jason Booy – Check up) He is participating in a course on Gross Anatomy and they have been working on a man that Jason wrote about yesterday. I thought that his post was insightful and soulful.
“The hand is distinctly human. A thorax is just a thorax, and a shoulder is just a shoulder. In contrast, like the heart, brain, or face, a hand is not just a hand. It’s somebody’s hand.
When prosecting the hand tissue, as we did today, it’s troublingly difficult to dissociate yourself from the gruesome reality of the task – cutting apart a person’s dead body. I felt again deeply accusing guilt of invasion, and violation.
What work did he use his hands for? Perhaps he played an instrument with them. Perhaps he penned words that have out-lasted the hands that formed that. Whose hands did he lovingly hold in his?
Now his final handshake: … me, with my stinging scalpel. I greet him again in those hands, human even in death. I’m sorry for putting you through this. I’m sorry for keeping you here. Thank you, for this last meaningful action of your – always your - hands.”
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Lots going on with my kids as of late. I had a long conversation with one of my boys last night, and taking care of ailing parents is a teachable experience. We are learning how to navigate the medical system and the government. Hopefully we will be able to succeed in what we need to do in the coming weeks.
Another of my friends is battling the alcohol demon half way around the world in Amsterdam. Trying to stay sober on ones own is a futile effort. And I think that’s the road he was taking, after a hard slip after a long period of sobriety, you can’t do it alone. So I did some research for him in finding him a contact in Amsterdam to call the AA hot line there and he did connect, he sent me an email just a short while ago letting me know he made contact with someone in the program there and that he would be making a meeting in the coming days.
So that’s all good…
I am going to go and do some reading then maybe a nap before class.
More to come, stay tuned …
H1N1 Vaccine: I got mine. Get yours.
Lifted from: CheckUp – Jason’s Blog…
UPDATE: Montreal.
The H1N1 website was updated I guess over the last 48 hours and they upped the classification of persons who should get the vaccine, as the numbers at the clinics were low over the weekend here in Montreal.Since I am immunocompromised (HIV +) and I am also diabetic, I was pushed further up the line today on the website.
So I got ready and walked up to Alexis Nihon Plaza and got in line. I did not wait more than ten minutes at most to get all the way through to vaccination. They have a triage area outside screening people, and I did see them turn elderly people away – a woman who was in her sixties and was diabetic was turned away. They are pretty strict when it comes to the most important.
After getting through triage, they checked me into the system with my medicare card and I had to fill out a short form – they had people there to assist you if you needed it, and then they signed off on our forms, then it was to the vaccine stop. I got the vaccine with the adjuvant included.
There was an area outside the vaccine stop where nurses were monitoring people for side effects, so you aren’t alone during the process. They were very efficient and the line moved rather quickly. By the time I got out of the clinic there was a huge line – the lunch hour crowd I guess…
Get Yourself Vaccinated !!!
There’s no question about it; H1N1 is sweeping through Quebec, and has been for a few weeks now. You’ve probably already heard that Quebec government has released the vaccine, and is dispensing it across the province. I would strongly encourage you to consider getting yourself vaccinated.
Most of my readers are young, and mostly healthy. As such, the need to protect yourself from flu is not pressing. If you contracted H1N1 today, it would likely only mean missing a few days of school or work. So why get vaccinated? Because the flu pandemic is spread by droplet contact from person-to-person. Vaccinate yourself so that you’re not just another person in the long line of transmission. Because that line ends with people who are more susceptible, and who are going to die from it. Vaccinate yourself on behalf of Quebec’s elderly, the immunosuppressed patient who uses the pay-phone after you, the pregnant woman next to you on the bus, and the cancer patient. Getting the H1N1 vaccine is the socially responsible thing to do.
Find an Quebec vaccination clinic near you at THIS WEBSITE Vaccination schedules will vary by region, and in most regions where there are limited supplies of the vaccine, you will be prioritized according to your risk.
First to be vaccinated are those in danger themselves, and second those who have susceptible close contacts (e.g. health care workers). If neither of those are you, be prepared to wait a bit for your vaccine. Keep checking back, however, because eventually there should be enough for everyone.
There have been rumours and anxiety going around about the safety of the vaccine. As always, be discerning about where you get your information. Those organizations most-equipped to assess the quality of the H1N1 vaccine have pronounced it safe, and effective. In general, vaccines are the safest medications around.
That being said, the vaccine is likely to give you a sore muscle at the injection site, and perhaps a headache, fever, and flu-like symptoms for a day or two. This is not the flu, but rather your body’s immune system responding. Take Tylenol for your symptoms, and you shouldn’t be held back. Ultimately, a day or two of headache, and a sore shoulder are far better than having the flu itself, which can last more than a week!
Do it for your grandparents, for your nieces and nephews, and for the many Quebecers depending on you to do your part. Get your flu vaccine.
Thanks Jason …
Supermarket Safari …
The Provigo is decorated for Christmas. I keep meaning to take my camera with me to document this truth, alas, I forgot once again.
It has been a quiet weekend. I’ve been funky all week since Vaughn’s death and it is taking a toll on my emotionally. I am feeling very sad for Johnny and so I’ve not been much use to myself as of late. Yesterday I took the day off to sleep which was nice. I don’t usually get a whole day to sleep – when my body needs it.
So this afternoon I went on a supermarket safari and did my grocery shopping for the next few days. Little bits and pieces here and there and some fresh fruit because I have been craving them and a loaf of Belgian Bread because I have also been craving white bread once again. The pork chops looked good so I got some of those for dinner.
At least they haven’t begun to play Christmas music in the store just yet.
We have been seeing a bevy of Christmas commercials on tv and soon the tree will go up, we usually wait until the first snow to do that but it doesn’t look like snow is going to happen for the next two weeks according to the long range forecasts.
Our 6 year old tube TV is on the fritz and we have been looking online for sales, it seems we will be upgrading to an HD tv in the next couple of months. Hopefully the tv will hang on until we can afford a $500.00 drop. Hubby got a fellowship and will be getting paid boo-coo bucks for his R.A. efforts, so that will more than cover the cost of a new set.
So I’ve also been contemplating my navel in a bad way. I am all caught up in what if’s and dying. I am concerned with growing older and loosing things it is all so irrational I know, but it is all hitting me all at once and I can’t seem to get out of this funk. have I done everything I wanted or want to do – NO. Are there still things I want to do – YES.
It is just very weird. Last night I listened to a show with Ian Punnett about “The Fourth Turning.” And I wonder about my generation and my contribution to the world. I am not worried about dying, yet I am pondering the thought. I am not sure why – since I am healthy and doing exceptionally well, numbers wise. I haven’t felt this kind of funk in a long time.
So that’s the story until now.
More to come, stay tuned…
We Must …
“When life gets tough and things get hard we must get BIGGER and Love more …”
Just a brief note of what was spoken at the funeral for Vaughn. It was a very somber service at Saint James United Church. The readings were the same readings you hear at every other funeral… “Love is patient, Love is kind…”
And “There is a season for everything…”
I could not help but sit there and think about the inevitable. My friends Paul, Donald and Andrew were there from school. Not one professor from the department of Theology was present, strange … The music was heavenly and the service was somber and respectful.
As I sat there, I imagined myself in that casket. I imagined what it would feel like, not that I would be feeling anything at that point, I’d be dead. But I wondered if I would see myself being eulogized and seeing who had come to pay their respects. Every funeral I attend I look at all the people there and take notice of how many people come because of who has died.
I wonder how I would get on if that was me sitting in the pew where Johnny was, how would I cope? How would I go on alone? How would my husband get on without me? It is all just too much to fathom for me. It is all very hard to imagine…
Then I put myself in Johnny’s shoes. Experiencing his loss and the profound sadness he is feeling about now. I can’t imagine – well I can, but I choose not to for the moment.
After the service we all filed out of the church as the casket was loaded into the hearse and Johnny was just standing there almost comatose. I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was alright and he said that “everything would be ok…”
I’ve spoken to friends who’s marriages are on the rocks and tried to help them get back what was lost, and now I have experienced the death of a close friend and the sorrow of a fellow and I am sad.
Our little group got a few words in together with Johnny and we all hugged him and wished him peace. What else can you say at that kind of moment. It was just very sad to see Johnny standing outside the church, Lost, looking forlorn and blank. There was nothing we could do about it at the moment.
Eternal rest grant him and may perpetual light shine upon him…
Quebec Region H1N1 Vaccine Schedule Updated 4 Nov
Montréal
Important Message
If you are a healthcare worker (including private clinic staff, pharmacists, ambulance drivers, and first respondents), your employer, your institution, or your health and social services center (CSSS) will provide all the information you require concerning your vaccination.
If you are a group 1 individual at risk of developing complications, it is recommended that you be vaccinated. For more information on your closest vaccination center, click on the CSSS territory corresponding to your place of residence in the list or on the map below.
As soon as the vaccination of group 1 individuals at risk is complete, the remainder of the population will have the opportunity to be vaccinated, according to the dates, places, and schedules of the centers set up in each region.
EVERYONE WILL GET THEIR TURN
As of November 5
- Children 6 months to 5 years of age
- Parents, brothers and sisters of infants less than 6 months of age
- Women more than 20 weeks pregnant (vaccine with adjuvant)
- Pregnant women with a chronic medical condition (vaccine with adjuvant)
As of November 9
- Women who are less than 20 weeks pregnant
As of November 16
- Individuals less than 18 years of age suffering from a chronic medical condition (people with diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, heart failure, etc.)
As of November 23
- Individuals between 18 and 65 years of age suffering from a chronic medical condition (people with diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, heart failure, etc.)
As of December 7
- Youth 5 to 18 years of age
- Adults 19 to 65 years of age
- Individuals above 65 years of age
Vaccination Centers for CSSS de la Montagne
PLACE ALEXIS-NIHON
1500, Avenue Atwater
Montréal (V)
H3Z1X5
Information importante :
Métro Atwater
Niveau métro atwater
Centre ouvert à partir du 5 novembre 2009
Vaccination dans le respect des clientèles prioritaires tel qu’indiqué à la page précédente
(suivre le lien ci-dessous <<Retour vers la liste des CSSS)
Please respect the priority of clients according to the preceding page. Updated above.
Schedule :
Lundi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Mardi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Mercredi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Jeudi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Vendredi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Samedi : de 08:00 à 20:00
Naked as the day we were born
Lifted from: The Real Live Preacher
I had a vision the other day that came to me in the form of a daydream. I was sitting in the library staring off into space when suddenly I imagined myself in a huge room with a crowd of people. We were all waiting for God to show up. Some people were standing around in groups, talking. Others were sitting down. A few were asleep. Suddenly God appeared and things got very quiet, which was understandable because God was about 30 feet tall. A man near the back was the last one to notice. He was telling a joke to his buddy when he realized he was the only one talking. He looked around, saw God, and said, “Oh, sorry.”
Then God said, “Some of you are rather nicely dressed, I see.” That made the well-dressed people happy. Some of the men opened their blazers to show God the linings. A few women twirled around so God could get a good look at their outfits. A number of people seemed very proud of their shoes and pointed to them with open palms. God laughed and then took a deep breath. For a moment I thought God was going to suck all the air out of the room. There was a long pause, and then God leaned forward and blew. The sound of it was like the rush of a mighty wind. All of our clothes disintegrated and disappeared, like confetti blown off the top of a waxed table.
Just like that we were naked. As naked as the day we were born. It was embarrassing at first, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it. Eventually the idea began to settle in and people calmed down. You could hear people saying, “Oh well, I guess we’re naked now.”
There was a group of religious people who had brought Bibles with them and were now using them to cover themselves. One guy had a small, pocket New Testament which he held over his private parts. The guy next to him had a big black Bible and was saying, “Who’s trash-talking the King James now?” God saw the Bibles and started to laugh with a booming voice that shook the room. “What need have you of Testaments?” God asked. “You’re standing in my presence.” God snapped God’s fingers and all the Bibles turned to smoke and drifted away. This was particularly hard on the clergy, whose expertise in the scriptures suddenly lost whatever relevance it may have had. And try as they might, in the presence of God, even the ministers could not remember a single verse.
“All right then,” said God. “Has anyone else brought anything with them?”
There were a few who had things hidden behind their backs. One by one they held them up. A bag of Oreos, an iPod, a baseball glove, family photos, those sorts of things. As soon as they were shown, they turned to smoke, just like the Bibles had.
God looked around at all the people and saw that they were good – finally. Then God said, “Percival Stanley WHIGGINS!!!”
Everyone looked around. Some were mouthing “Percival,” as if they couldn’t believe anyone might actually have that name. Near the middle of the room, a sheepish young man in his 20’s pulled a small wooden flute from behind his back and held it up. God winked and the flute snapped out of existence in a pop of blue static. Percival Stanley Whiggins squeaked and put his fingertips in his mouth. God stared hard at him, which would have been terrible, but there was a slight hint of a smile at the corner of God’s mouth.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, mister,” said God.
“Now then,” said God. “Just a few questions. How many of you were lawyers?”
Not one person raised a hand.
“How many were ministers?”
No one moved.
“Business persons? Accountants? Sports legends? School teachers? Artists? Show business, perhaps?”
People looked at each other and shrugged. No one raised a hand.
“Can anyone remember what he or she did for a living?”
No one said anything. We looked at each other in amazement. We were naked, completely at peace, and suddenly we couldn’t remember what we did for a living. Then Percival Stanley Whiggins shyly raised his hand and said, “I think I might have been a shopkeeper.”
God exhaled impatiently and said, “No you were NOT.”
I began to think that Percival Stanley Whiggins was either the bravest or the stupidest person I had ever seen. Fortunately, that was the last we heard from him.
God sat down in a huge chair and said, “Line up now. Line up and come see me, one at a time. Come and tell me what you’ve been doing with the lives I have given you.”
It was a very long line, but no one seemed to mind. Those near the back fell asleep, though they remained standing. They shuffled forward as the line moved without opening their eyes. As they got near the front they came awake. I noticed that some people seemed very afraid to speak to God. One or two tried to run away, but there really wasn’t anywhere to go. Eventually they wandered back over and got in line again. Some people wept. Others shook with fear. Quite a few seemed stunned. Each person had a turn talking to God for a few moments. Then God sent them, one by one, through a purple door that was right next to God’s chair.
Then it was my turn. When I stepped up to the chair, I realized that God had shrunk until God was only about 10 feet tall. It was still intimidating but not as bad as before. God said, “What do you have to say for yourself.”
I was stumped. With no memory of the jobs I had in life, I wasn’t sure what to say.
“Um, I had three daughters. And I loved them quite dearly.”
“Yes, you did,” God replied.
“I was married to a very good woman and I truly loved her. Just adored her. I think I was a better person with her than I would have been without her.”
“Agreed,” said God.
Then I couldn’t think of anything else to say. There were a few moments of awkward silence. Then God said, “Would you like me to return your memory of what you did for a living, as you people like to say?
“Yes, please.”
In that moment it all came back to me. I expected the fullness of my completed labors to rush back into the void of my memory and fill me with robust purpose and meaning. But the memory of what I did seemed rather hollow and unimportant. I recounted my various jobs to God without a lot of energy.
“Oh yeah, I was a minister. And a writer. So I…you know…preached and did church stuff. I was at this one church for many years. So I was proud of that, of course. It was…Covenant…something Church, I think. I used to think about things a lot, and I wrote some of that down. You know, so that my thoughts were on paper and all. So…there was that.
God shrugged and said, “Anything else?”
My mind was a blank. So I shook my head.
God nodded, solemnly.
“You were never really true to yourself, though, were you? That’s what makes me sad about your life. The church stuff is fine. And sure, you wrote some things. But you were never completely true to yourself.”
“Well, to a certain extent didn’t we all have to set aside our baser desires so as not to hurt others or do things that would be bad? So what is true to yourself in that sense? I always felt that…”
“STOP!” God said with a terrible frown that caused a shiver to go down my spine.
“Do not forget who you are speaking to. I’m not talking about that. You know exactly what I mean, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You know all the things you denied about yourself, don’t you? Things you never admitted.”
“Yes.”
“And you know what you claimed and affirmed to get along and be comfortable, don’t you?”
I hung my head and felt the heavy weight of sorrow.
“Yes.”
God nodded, and the sorrow disappeared. I looked up and saw Jesus standing beside the purple door. God inclined his head in that direction, so I took a step forward.
“Wow, it’s you,” I said. “Does everyone see you here?”
“That’s not for you to know. Answer me this: what do you want more than anything else?”
“The truth. I want to know the truth. About everything.”
Jesus smiled and opened the purple door. Behind it I could see crowds of people walking toward a light on the horizon. And just for a moment I thought I was going to put it all together in my mind. For a brief moment I felt like everything was just about to make sense.
And then I sneezed. I shook my head and realized I had been daydreaming. The purple door was gone, and I was back in the library again. Back in this life, where what I do for a living is what matters and hardly anything makes sense at all.
rlp
Maine voters repeal gay-marriage law
Via: MSNBC.com and the Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine – Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.
Gay marriage has now lost in every single state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine — known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate — and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.
With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the votes.
“The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation,” declared Frank Schubert, chief organizer for the winning side.
Gay-marriage supporters refused to concede, holding out hope that that the tide might turn as the final returns came in.
“We’re here for the long haul and whether it’s just all night and into the morning, or it’s next week or next month or next year, we will be here,” said Jesse Connolly, manager of the pro-gay marriage campaign. “We’ll be here fighting. We’ll be working. We will regroup.”
At issue was a law passed by the Maine Legislature last spring that would have legalized same-sex marriage. The law was put on hold after conservatives launched a petition drive to repeal it in a referendum.
The outcome Tuesday marked the first time voters had rejected a gay-marriage law enacted by a legislature. When Californians put a stop to same-sex marriage a year ago, it was in response to a court ruling, not legislation.
Five other states have legalized gay marriage — starting with Massachusetts in 2004, and followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Iowa — but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote. In contrast, constitutional amendments banning gay marriage have been approved in all 30 states where they have been on the ballot.
‘A personal thing’
The defeat left some gay-marriage supporters bitter.
“Our relationship is between us,” said Carla Hopkins, 38, of Mount Vernon, with partner Victoria Eleftherio, 38, sitting on her lap outside a hotel ballroom where gay marriage supporters had been hoping for a victory party. “How does that affect anybody else? It’s a personal thing.”
The contest had been viewed by both sides as certain to have national repercussions. Gay-marriage foes desperately wanted to keep their winning streak alive, while gay-rights activists sought to blunt the argument that gay marriage was being foisted on the country by courts and lawmakers over the will of the people.
Had Maine’s law been upheld, the result would probably have energized efforts to get another vote on gay marriage in California, and given a boost to gay-marriage bills in New York and New Jersey.
Earlier Tuesday, before vote-counting began, gay-marriage foe Chuck Schott of Portland warned that Maine “will have its place in infamy” if the gay-rights side won.
Another Portland resident, Sarah Holman said she was “very torn” but decided — despite her conservative upbringing — to vote in favor of letting gays marry.
“They love and they have the right to love. And we can’t tell somebody how to love,” said Holman, 26.
In addition to reaching out to young people who flocked to the polls for President Barack Obama a year ago, gay-marriage defenders tried to appeal to Maine voters’ pronounced independent streak and live-and-let-live attitude.
The other side based many of its campaign ads on claims — disputed by state officials — that the new law would mean “homosexual marriage” would be taught in public schools.
Both sides in Maine drew volunteers and contributions from out of state, but the money edge went to the campaign in defense of gay marriage, Protect Maine Equality. It raised $4 million, compared with $2.5 million for Stand for Marriage Maine.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, voters in Washington state voted on whether to uphold or overturn a recently expanded domestic partnership law that entitles same-sex couples to the same state-granted rights as heterosexual married couples. With half the precincts reporting, that race was too close to call.
In Kalamazoo, Mich., voters approved a measure that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Among other ballot items across the country:
- In Ohio, voters approved a measure that will allow casinos in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. Four similar measures had been defeated in recent years, but this time the state’s reeling economy gave extra weight to arguments that the new casinos would create thousands of jobs.
- Maine voters defeated a measure that would have limited state and local government spending by holding it to the rate of inflation plus population growth. A similar measure was on the ballot in Washington state.
- Another measure in Maine, which easily won approval, will allow dispensaries to supply marijuana to patients for medicinal purposes. It is a follow-up to a 1999 measure that legalized medical marijuana but did not set up a distribution system.
- The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge voted overwhelmingly to allow adults to legally possess small amounts of marijuana.
Sad Days…
Sad news came this evening. One of my colleagues in the Department of Theology and a good friend for many years, lost his husband to cancer. Here is the obit:
VAUGHN THOMASSIN
THOMASSIN, Vaughn 1965-2009 Surrounded by his loving family, passed away November 2, 2009 at the age of forty-four. He leaves to mourn his spouse Johnny, his parents Hugh and Linda, his sister Heidi (Mark and family) and many other family and friends. Visitation on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at 1255 Beaumont Ave., Town of Mount Royal (between l’Acadie and Rockland), The funeral service will be held on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 12 p.m. at St. James United Church, 463 Ste-Catherine Street West, Montreal followed by interment at Les Jardins Urgel Bourgie, St-Laurent. The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Segal Cancer Centre (Jewish General Hospital) and Cite de la Sante Hospital for their kind and devoted care.
Donations may be made to Segal Cancer Centre (Jewish General Hospital, Pav E, 3755 Cote-Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal, H3T 1E2) in the memory of Vaughn.
I had heard whispers that he was ill over the last few months, but this came as a shock. It will be a busy Thursday for me with a funeral in the afternoon and a lecture to attend that very same evening.
I took today off because I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I have been spending hours every day reading and every night I read up to 30 pages of material before bed, and I am just mentally FRIED !!! I took a nap this afternoon and when I got up to get ready for class, I just couldn’t do it so I went back to bed and slept until after 8 this evening.
We are awaiting the news on Maine’s No on 1 campaign.
That’s all for now. More to come, stay tuned…
