Happy Half a year! :)

Hey Matthew,
Happy Half-Year of our marriage :) I'm loving every minute of it and I'm so blessed that God put you in my life. What a great gift you are to me. I look forward to many, many great years to come with you. I Love you Eternally and I believe that Eternal Love is truly possible because with God all things are possible.

Matthew and I were married exactly 6 months ago to this day (May 28th, 2005) and it is now November 28th. Time goes by fast! I believe in celebrating everything in life and what a great thing to celebrate :) The icon here is of the Wedding at Cana. I thought it was cool, because it shows more people sitting around the table than there are in other depictions of this particular icon. As well, the water into wine jugs (sorry for the untechnical term :) are not present. Rather, it is the part when Mary is first telling Jesus that they have ran out of wine. I really liked this image when I was looking here on the internet, because it made me think about the image of the Last Supper and as well of Communion. We are called to be in communion with Christ and with one another. Fellowship around a table is one of the best ways to show this Love.

Have a great week everyone!!! :)

Holy Trinity's 50th Anniversary

Holy Trinity on "Church" Street.





Last night and today Krista and I have joined in the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church here in Edmonton. This parish is served by Igumen Phillip Speranza, who is a dear priest friend of ours. Fr. Phillip used to serve down at St. Peter the Aleut in Calgary and was always so encouraging to me during my years attending there before I became Orthodox. He's an amazing man: for one, a true Sicilian, secondly a dedicated monastic... serving ALL the daily services. Amazing. Also, a committed pastor to the parish at Holy Trinity. When he came there three years ago, I think there were about 8 people... very worn out and without a lot of hope for the future. This is an inner-city parish in a very needy area. Through Fr. Phillip's committment, unfailing prayer, and just plain-old love (sometimes tough) the parish is now gradually growing and welcoming new comers. And the people are looking forward to what the future might hold. A beautiful little beacon. Oh yeah, Fr. Phillip is also a secret Bill Gaither fan!

The service was beautiful too. Bishop Job from the Moscow Patriarchal parishes served, along with Bishop Seraphim, several priests, a very melodious Deacon from St. John's Cathedral, and a whole host of subdeacons and servers! Bill Giofu, who was one of the sponsors for my chrismation along with the Jordans, was up from Calgary, so it was great to see him. Bishop Seraphim arrived late Saturday night after a snowstorm in Germany almost held him up... his luggage was lost. But he shared with us all that even this was an opportunity for him to receive love and to know that all things are really in God's hands. There was a big feast afterwards. Afterwards, at the reception, His Grace compared the "fortress" attitude that can creep up in Orthodoxy to a living, open-hearted Orthodoxy. He reminded us that we do not need to try to "protect" God or the Truth, in some sort of fearful way, but rather to grow in God's love, and thus to be formed by Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen!

Also, on a personal note, I'm applying for a new job this week that I've been invited to apply for (hope that's a good thing). My current contract with Heritage Resource Management ends at the end of December... so your prayers are greatly appreciated!

- Grace & Peace!

SARAH SLEAN

The Sarah Slean concert last night was breathtakingly beautiful! Wow! It was so great to see her play again. We saw her last year around this time, when we were still in our engaged era, but this time around she was without a band of any sort....it was up close and personal. Just her and the piano...there was a dreamy and mystical feeling that night. I think it was the best concert I've ever been to and I would not just say that. She is such a great performer and I admire her stage presence immensely! Yup, if anyone reading this blog ever has the chance to see her live......I highly recommend going.....and if you already have seen her live, then you know what I mean.

She played all the good stuff...well, all her stuff IS good, but she seriously played, I think, every song that Matthew and I had been craving....yikes what a word to use, eh? but seriously it was edifying last night....and inspiring.....art, music, poetry....all that good stuff, it's an endless world of delight! Matthew and i bought a copy of one of her drawings, she is a great artist too....her poetry was also there.

She played songs from her newest cd "Day One", as well she played songs from the very first cd of hers that I had ever purchased some years back titled "Universe"....songs that she sang from that include 'Pie Jesu' and 'Mary.' She wrote the song mary about her grandmother, but I'm also convinced that unknowingly it refers to the theotokos too...she also sang from her album "Nightbugs" the songs 'book smart, street stupid', and 'Elliot' (Good ol' T.S :). She played one hymn ( it was beautiful) called 'Abide With Me' and in the encore she played 'Duncan' and finally concluded with 'sweet ones' (the audience all sang the little refrain echos of the song...it was fun!)

Book Smart, Street Stupid
Sarah Slean - Night Bugs

i was born by an old streetlight
where the men lean out of their windows at night
and i was a lead in the orphan choir
and i sang with all my might until i grew up too high
and oh the all the notes i used to play
on the double bass in the b-list ballet
with only the night bugs to lead me home
with their sad luck serenade
the rain was never ending
the sadness in my heart
would light and glow in the dark
oh this will never change
time just wears a prettier face
i'm book smart street stupid

so don't look for me in confession booths
with my paints and my pens and my dry vermouth
trying to uncover some small truth
with these cards close to my chest

the rain still never ending
the sadness in my heart
still lights and glows in the dark
oh this will never change
time just wears a prettier face
book smart street stupid

and the rain still never ending
the wonder in my heart
still lights and glows in
still lights and glows in the dark


Mary

She’s looking up and out to
A galaxy
A fateful boat trip 'cross a northern sea
And on a frosty window
She writes her name
O daughter, this is how she became

Mary
Go ahead and have your little baby
Mary
Toughest of the tough but still a lady

I’ve all the courage
I’ll ever need
I wax poetic on my enemies
The century is raging
But so are we
No matter what I know I ’ve got a
Symphony called

Mary
Go ahead and have your little baby
Mary
Toughest of the tough but still a lady

Out of dark days, stay up airplane
Take my last name, stay up airplane

Go ahead and have your little baby
Mary
Toughest of the tough but still a lady
Mary
Toughest of the tough

Chad Van Gaalen

I know that Krista would like to post about the amazing concert we had the privilege of attending last night, so I won't give all the good stuff away, but will leave it for my Sweet Girl. The show was at the Horowitz Theatre a the U of A, so we did a fair bit of waiting (suitable for the liturgical season), but it was all worthwhile. It was incredible...truly one of the great performances, right up there with all the epic Vancouver shows of my halcyon youth...

One of the great surprises of the night (and they were manifold), was this amazing performer, Chad VanGaalen, who was the opening act. We weren't sure where he's from, but are thinking maybe Calgary, since our friend Amy knew about him. It was funny because before he went on we noticed a bunch of people up in the rows ahead of us were drinking bottles of Traditional and Grasshopper right there in the theatre, which was strange. I mean, usually they don't have any food or drinks in theatres like that, let alone glass bottles. So this usher came and told them they couldn't do that and had to put them away. But then a few minutes later one of the guys who was enjoying his beer got up on stage and turned out to be the opening act! Such good songs. He started off with banjo, whilst playing the bass and snare on kicks. Sort of Sufjan-esque. Very cool. Sounded a little like Will Oldham, perhaps a touch of Jeff Buckley. Then he switched to a Fender Jaguar, which had these lush guitar sounds. The vocal here was dead-on Neil Young. All the while Chad made mistakes and false starts in a charming way, which endeared him all the more to the audience. Especially the girls behind us who were literally swooning. Seriously. Swooning. Well, I was even swooning a bit, the music was that good. I think I might actually go out and buy this guy's record. Sweet music.

A Bed of Red Flowers...

Yesterday I had the honour of interviewing Ms. Nelofer Pazira for Beyond. For those of you who aren't yet familiar with Beyond,it is an astonishingly beautiful and award-winning Canadian publication that explores what it means to be "truly human." I've known Karen, Beyond's publisher, since my student days at the Nazarene College in Calgary, and she has become a real creative mentor to me. Her tenacity and vision have kept Beyond all content. Yep, this magazine has NO ADS, intentionally! It's part of their philosophy. It's also got a lot of humour and charm. So it's been a privilege to write for Beyond over the past couple of years, and now I'll be doing a little more as a contributing editor. The theme of this upcoming issue is "a sense of place," so why don't you just head over there and subscribe?

Nelofer you may remember from the film Kandahar. She played the reporter, the main character, who returns to Afghanistan in the days of the Taliban to be reunited with her sister. The sister has vowed to committ suicide before an impending lunar eclipse, and the reporter goes through great struggles to intervene. The story behind Kandahar is actually based around Nelofer's own journey back to Afghanistan in hopes of seeing her best friend, Dyana. Now a gifted journalist and filmmaker living in Montreal, Nelofer has written a book called A Bed of Red Flowers, telling her family's story of life in war-torn Afghanistan, as well as their eventual journey to Moncton, New Brunswick as political refugees. It's a great book, which I wholeheartedly recommend. So I had a good talk with Ms. Pazira yesterday, and will be preparing the article as a narrative piece around our conversation. She has thought quite deeply about places and sacred spaces, and I, at least, have many questions about that theme, too.

So why not go subscribe to Beyond?

You may also like to see the charity that Nelofer has recently set up, the Dyana Afghan Women's Fund.

Glory to God for All Things...

In his sermon this past Sunday, Fr. John reminded us that the last words of St. John Chrysostom, after he had been abused and run out of town, and brought in disgrace in the eyes of the world to his early martyr's death were - Glory to God for All Things!

Mira has a great post describing this weekend's Pan-Orthodox Young Adult Retreat. I'm still gathering all my thoughts. I can only say that it was an incredibly beautiful time, rich in friendship and learning and prayer, and I think it was a bright moment for Orthodox unity in Canada: over 60 young people together, from 11 parishes, OCA, Antiochian, and Ukrainian!

It was so good to meet so many new friends, brothers and sisters all.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

If you're making the rounds...

Check out Peter's post on Johnny Cash. It's pretty hilarious. Krista and I are counting the days until Walk the Line.

And this beautiful story from Sky. For those of you would don't know him, Sky is a very talented designer and web developer that attends St. Spyridon's Orthodox Church in Seattle. His blog, Now and Ever, is, well, incredible. The shining pinnacle of the genre as far as I'm concerned.

Good Suggestion, Peter!

Dr. Peter Rae, educator, guitarist, consummate grammarian, actor, and devotee of ethnic music for congregational singing, is a man I'm proud to call a friend. He is the energetic Dean of the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, which was my home for some time around the turn of the millenium. And it was Peter who introduced me to the Poet R.S. Thomas and gave me a book of his poems. For those of you who don't know him, the picture above is Thomas, not Peter.

From 1936 until his retirement in 1978, Thomas worked as a vicar in the Church of Wales. His last parish, Aberdaron, was located on the tip of the remote Llyn Peninsula. The bleak Welsh landscape and the harsh life of the farmers who were his parishioners provided an inspiration for much of his finest poetry.

My good friend John (Abraham not Hadley) from Calgary mentioned an article which was loosely based around this poem... and so the article led me back to good ole' R.S. I thought I'd share it. The poem is about the Resurrection.

Suddenly

As I had always known
he would come, unannounced,
remarkable merely for the absence
of clamour. So truth must appear
to the thinker; so at a stage
of the experiment, the answer
must clearly emerge. I looked
at him, not with the eye
only, but with the whole
of my being, overflowing with
him as a chalice would
with the sea. Yet was he
no more there than before,
his area occupied
by the unhaloed presences.
You could put your hand
in him without consciousness
of his wounds. The gamblers
at the foot of the unnoticed
cross went on with
their dicing; yet the invisible
garment for which they played
was no longer at stake, but worn
by him in this risen existence.
- R.S. Thomas