"...It quickly became obvious that business, government and the
church had been working together for more than a century to grab the
lands and resources of west coast native people like the Ahousahts,
using missionary work and the residential schools as a pretext to do
so. It wasn’t about “Christianising the heathen” at all, but about big
money, and getting rid of the indigenous people, who prevented the
European takeover by their continued occupation of the land. "
"Love and Death in the Valley" by Kevin Annett
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Muggin' at the Mermaid's Mug
It occured to me that I've been mostly sharing items of interest lately, and opinions etc... but not much about what we're up to these days. Well, here's something I was up to last month:
Memoirs of a former Playboy centerfold
This story of the power of God's grace, is worth sharing
...(from PTM newsletter:)
Susie Scott Krabacher shares her wild ride from an abusive childhood to the Playboy Mansion -- from a life in disarray to one of faith, love and charity.
Susie Scott Krabacher with Vicki, a resident at one of her facilities for children in Haiti.
ASPEN, CO (ANS) -- Drawing on her own pain and experiences - the beatings from her mother, the sexual abuse from her grandfather, the denial of her father about everything going on, a centerfold spread in Playboy magazine, eerie encounters at the Playboy Mansion, the suicide of her brother -- Susie Scott Krabacher's book Angels of a Lower Flight: One Woman's Mission To Save A Country. One Child At A Time weaves a story that culminates with her resolve to never let any other child suffer the way she did.
The children she has chosen to help are the sick and orphaned in Haiti. With passion and an eye for detail, Krabacher describes what drove her to Haiti as well as what she has accomplished during her many visits to this impoverished country that the United Nations has termed "the worst slum on the planet."
There she encountered extreme poverty like she'd never seen before, as well as countless abandoned children, deadly gangs roaming the streets, a government oozing with corruption, and filth and despair at every turn. Her passion and desire to help these forgotten children led to the creation of the Mercy and Sharing Foundation, a non-profit organization which she runs with her husband Joe Krabacher, an Aspen attorney and real estate developer. The foundation is dedicated to providing a safe haven for abandoned, malnourished, and impoverished children in Haiti. Under Krabacher's direction, Mercy and Sharing now runs three schools, two orphanages, feeding centers, a hospital and an abandoned baby facility in Haiti. Krabacher's compassion knows no boundaries. She has held dying orphans so that they didn't pass away alone, and she has searched the morgue in order to give a proper burial to those she tried to save while they were hospitalized.
Prior to her current work, Krabacher worked extensively as a model and actress, appearing as the centerfold in Playboy magazine as Miss May 1983. She credits her renewed Christian faith and the purpose she found in caring for the world's poor as the factors that led to her life's transformation.
"To enter into suffering is why I was placed on earth," she writes. "From the time I was four until the moment I set foot in Haiti, I wondered what assignment God had in mind for me. Although my life's calling in Haiti is difficult, I hope I never run from it. To care for others is what I was created to do. My ability to care came from my own struggles."
In 2006, Krabacher was honored by World of Children, Inc., an international children's advocacy group dedicated to honoring exceptional child advocates from around the world. In 2004, she was granted The Humanitarian Rose Award, presented by The People's Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc., which was established to further Diana's commitment to help the needy. In addition, she has received the International Humanitarian Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Haitians, the National Achievement Award from E-Town Radio, the Citizen Cool Award from the Ben & Jerry's Corporation, and the Gift of Life Award from Rotary International. She is a member of the Miami Children's Hospital Hall of Fame, and has been awarded honorary citizenship in Haiti. Krabacher spends nearly every waking hour working for the children of Haiti, either fundraising in the United States, or providing hands-on help in Haiti for the 3,300 children in the care of Mercy and Sharing.
Susie with children in a Haitian village.
Krabacher's book, Angels of a Lower Flight, takes readers inside the turmoil and eventual triumph of Krabacher's life -- everything she has been through, from childhood to the present, including the coup overthrowing Haiti's dictator Aristide. Not for the faint of heart, her memoir is a wake-up call to all Americans about what's going on just a few hundred miles from our shores, in addition to what still goes on in abusive homes right here in the United States. By sharing her story, Krabacher hopes to save children from misery, wherever they may be.
Cassie Nelson and Lori Ames
Assist News Service
...(from PTM newsletter:)
Susie Scott Krabacher shares her wild ride from an abusive childhood to the Playboy Mansion -- from a life in disarray to one of faith, love and charity.
Susie Scott Krabacher with Vicki, a resident at one of her facilities for children in Haiti.ASPEN, CO (ANS) -- Drawing on her own pain and experiences - the beatings from her mother, the sexual abuse from her grandfather, the denial of her father about everything going on, a centerfold spread in Playboy magazine, eerie encounters at the Playboy Mansion, the suicide of her brother -- Susie Scott Krabacher's book Angels of a Lower Flight: One Woman's Mission To Save A Country. One Child At A Time weaves a story that culminates with her resolve to never let any other child suffer the way she did.
The children she has chosen to help are the sick and orphaned in Haiti. With passion and an eye for detail, Krabacher describes what drove her to Haiti as well as what she has accomplished during her many visits to this impoverished country that the United Nations has termed "the worst slum on the planet."
There she encountered extreme poverty like she'd never seen before, as well as countless abandoned children, deadly gangs roaming the streets, a government oozing with corruption, and filth and despair at every turn. Her passion and desire to help these forgotten children led to the creation of the Mercy and Sharing Foundation, a non-profit organization which she runs with her husband Joe Krabacher, an Aspen attorney and real estate developer. The foundation is dedicated to providing a safe haven for abandoned, malnourished, and impoverished children in Haiti. Under Krabacher's direction, Mercy and Sharing now runs three schools, two orphanages, feeding centers, a hospital and an abandoned baby facility in Haiti. Krabacher's compassion knows no boundaries. She has held dying orphans so that they didn't pass away alone, and she has searched the morgue in order to give a proper burial to those she tried to save while they were hospitalized.
Prior to her current work, Krabacher worked extensively as a model and actress, appearing as the centerfold in Playboy magazine as Miss May 1983. She credits her renewed Christian faith and the purpose she found in caring for the world's poor as the factors that led to her life's transformation.
"To enter into suffering is why I was placed on earth," she writes. "From the time I was four until the moment I set foot in Haiti, I wondered what assignment God had in mind for me. Although my life's calling in Haiti is difficult, I hope I never run from it. To care for others is what I was created to do. My ability to care came from my own struggles."
In 2006, Krabacher was honored by World of Children, Inc., an international children's advocacy group dedicated to honoring exceptional child advocates from around the world. In 2004, she was granted The Humanitarian Rose Award, presented by The People's Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc., which was established to further Diana's commitment to help the needy. In addition, she has received the International Humanitarian Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Haitians, the National Achievement Award from E-Town Radio, the Citizen Cool Award from the Ben & Jerry's Corporation, and the Gift of Life Award from Rotary International. She is a member of the Miami Children's Hospital Hall of Fame, and has been awarded honorary citizenship in Haiti. Krabacher spends nearly every waking hour working for the children of Haiti, either fundraising in the United States, or providing hands-on help in Haiti for the 3,300 children in the care of Mercy and Sharing.
Susie with children in a Haitian village.Krabacher's book, Angels of a Lower Flight, takes readers inside the turmoil and eventual triumph of Krabacher's life -- everything she has been through, from childhood to the present, including the coup overthrowing Haiti's dictator Aristide. Not for the faint of heart, her memoir is a wake-up call to all Americans about what's going on just a few hundred miles from our shores, in addition to what still goes on in abusive homes right here in the United States. By sharing her story, Krabacher hopes to save children from misery, wherever they may be.
Cassie Nelson and Lori Ames
Assist News Service
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Joshua 'fit the battle of Jericho...
I'm participating in a joint effort with some other church members to read the bible in just 90 days. It's a challenge. But, I got through the "begats" of Genesis, and the meticulous and often bizarre details of law-keeping lists in Leviticus... whew!
Now, as I move into the book of Joshua, it's interesting to link Biblical events with archaeological evidence. While it can be a self-defeating trap to try to "prove" the bible by archaeology (thereby raising doubt in the bible when the archaeology is used to refute it), it is fun to watch the evidence as it unfolds.
For example, while it's proven that the walls of Jericho did collapse and the city was burned, there continues to be controversy over how the biblical timelines and the historical timelines overlap. It's also interesting to note the concurrent widespread destruction across Canaan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho
Kenyon's date of around 1550 BC is widely accepted based on this methodology of dating. Notably, many other Canaanite cities were destroyed around this time.
And we're still singing about it some 3,500 years later - cool:
Check this classic version by Mahalia Jackson: (click for the link)...
And the Seycove Junior Concert Choir in Nelson, B.C. gives a good performance:
Now, as I move into the book of Joshua, it's interesting to link Biblical events with archaeological evidence. While it can be a self-defeating trap to try to "prove" the bible by archaeology (thereby raising doubt in the bible when the archaeology is used to refute it), it is fun to watch the evidence as it unfolds.
For example, while it's proven that the walls of Jericho did collapse and the city was burned, there continues to be controversy over how the biblical timelines and the historical timelines overlap. It's also interesting to note the concurrent widespread destruction across Canaan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho
Kenyon's date of around 1550 BC is widely accepted based on this methodology of dating. Notably, many other Canaanite cities were destroyed around this time.
And we're still singing about it some 3,500 years later - cool:
Check this classic version by Mahalia Jackson: (click for the link)...
And the Seycove Junior Concert Choir in Nelson, B.C. gives a good performance:
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Passed On...
I discovered today that Floyd Red Crow Westerman died last month. Here's a short survey of his life from Wikipedia:
Judging from the Youtube comments and Google-hits related to the man, I don't think the Wiki report does him justice. He's obviously made an impact on people, especially in the First Nations communities where he was so well known.
This song, "Missionaries" decries the legacy of damage done by Imperialistic Religion operating falsely under the banner of Jesus Christ. It will take a long time and a lot of humility by those who truly follow Jesus, to hopefully undo some of this hurt:
Judging from the Youtube comments and Google-hits related to the man, I don't think the Wiki report does him justice. He's obviously made an impact on people, especially in the First Nations communities where he was so well known.
This song, "Missionaries" decries the legacy of damage done by Imperialistic Religion operating falsely under the banner of Jesus Christ. It will take a long time and a lot of humility by those who truly follow Jesus, to hopefully undo some of this hurt:
Friday, January 18, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Interesting article on the New Atheism
This article regarding current trends in Atheism and Chritian philosophy proved to be interesting. Here are a couple of excerpts. Click the title or the link below to see the entire article:
The "New Atheism" as "Good News"
While the new atheism has generated worry among Christians, perhaps it isn't warranted. One gets a sense of growing worry among atheists as well, and for good reason.
The last few years have seen the rise of the so-called “New Atheism”. a loose coalition of vociferous atheists who have denounced Christianity and religion generally in a number of high profile, bestselling books including Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion
...
While the new atheism offers little new by way of argument, it conveys the erroneous impression that orthodox Christianity is on the ropes intellectually speaking. On the contrary, Christianity has experienced renewed vitality through recent work in New Testament scholarship and philosophy of religion.
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5307
The "New Atheism" as "Good News"
While the new atheism has generated worry among Christians, perhaps it isn't warranted. One gets a sense of growing worry among atheists as well, and for good reason.
The last few years have seen the rise of the so-called “New Atheism”. a loose coalition of vociferous atheists who have denounced Christianity and religion generally in a number of high profile, bestselling books including Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion
...
While the new atheism offers little new by way of argument, it conveys the erroneous impression that orthodox Christianity is on the ropes intellectually speaking. On the contrary, Christianity has experienced renewed vitality through recent work in New Testament scholarship and philosophy of religion.
With regard to New Testament studies, just a few short decades ago it was widely assumed that the historical Jesus was all but inaccessible to critical scholarship. However, today works like N.T. Wright’s monumental The Resurrection of the Son of God (Augsburg Fortress, 2003) defend an orthodox picture of Jesus Christ on solid historical and evidential grounds. (Indeed, such is the evidence that even Pinchas Lapide, a Jewish scholar, has concluded on wholly historical grounds that Jesus was resurrected!)
..., the new atheists, to their credit, acknowledge that Christianity makes factual claims about the world, and thus that it is disingenuous to consign it to the realm of private feelings. Not only have they returned the question of factuality to discussion of Christian faith, but they have thereby placed discussion about God at the center of national consciousness and serious public debate. As such, they have unwittingly provided a golden opportunity for Christians to enter the public discussion and set the record straight. And that, it seems to me, is good news indeed.http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=5307
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Current Western Economic Pardigm
Where does the current western Economic Paradigm come from? ... how did it arise? We once were an agrarian society ... and way before that we were a society based on subsistence hunting...
Today, we are a manufacturing society - we take basic resources from the earth, reshape them, and produce "stuff" ... Our food supply has transformed from being the center of the activity to being now just one more product... and it is truly a "manufactured" product now... is this good?
Of the stuff we produce, some is Fundamental Stuff - housing, clothing, health care ... But usually we have gone way beyond the basic needs. So a huge amount of what we produce is 'luxury' stuff.. But something like 80 or 90 % of our stuff and activity is consumed by something like 10 or 20 % of the world's poplulation. Why is that?
We have become a society that lives at a level of consumption that the planet cannot susttain. Why has all our "increase" been folded back into ourselves? Rather than spreading out to others ... I suppose the answer to that is the old standby - greed; human nature's self-aborption tendancy etc... Our western economic is now spreading to huge parts of the population for the first time in history (China, India)... At a time when one of the basic "fuels" of this system (oil) is peaking out... So what sort of crisis does this cause?
The western economy threatens to engulf the planet at an unsustainable level... Where is the solution? Downsizing our demands and "exporting" a less consumptive business model? Or finding an entirely new paradigm - a new reason for our existence... Right now it seems the main reason for our existence in the west is "to make stufff" or "do stuff" - and most of that stuff and activity is NOT basic stuff but secondary/tertiary industry - non-essential stuff but certainly comforts us. Where's the sustainable level?
I keep coming back to the book of Revelations and Babylon (Chapter 18) as one of the best, most accurate metaphors for an economic system that controls and uses up human beings and indeed the planet, (as opposed to an economic system that is under our control and serves our long-term best interests).
All the dark language in the chapter to me represents the spirits behind the decisions we all make that lead us into this kind of economy. As most of us are merely reacting to what happens around us we end up being managed into a kind of economy that was not necessarily of our own choosing - if you get my drift. We are being 'managed' by the over-arching summation of all our "small" spirits of self-intention and greed that we all succumb to at least part (if not most) of the time.
Here are two interesting videos that provide more insight and hopefully point towards some solutions:
1. The Story of Stuff
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
2. The Fast I Choose
http://signpostvillage.com/thevillagevoice/2007/07/the-fast-i-choose-steve-bells-journey-to-ethiopia/
Today, we are a manufacturing society - we take basic resources from the earth, reshape them, and produce "stuff" ... Our food supply has transformed from being the center of the activity to being now just one more product... and it is truly a "manufactured" product now... is this good?
Of the stuff we produce, some is Fundamental Stuff - housing, clothing, health care ... But usually we have gone way beyond the basic needs. So a huge amount of what we produce is 'luxury' stuff.. But something like 80 or 90 % of our stuff and activity is consumed by something like 10 or 20 % of the world's poplulation. Why is that?
We have become a society that lives at a level of consumption that the planet cannot susttain. Why has all our "increase" been folded back into ourselves? Rather than spreading out to others ... I suppose the answer to that is the old standby - greed; human nature's self-aborption tendancy etc... Our western economic is now spreading to huge parts of the population for the first time in history (China, India)... At a time when one of the basic "fuels" of this system (oil) is peaking out... So what sort of crisis does this cause?
The western economy threatens to engulf the planet at an unsustainable level... Where is the solution? Downsizing our demands and "exporting" a less consumptive business model? Or finding an entirely new paradigm - a new reason for our existence... Right now it seems the main reason for our existence in the west is "to make stufff" or "do stuff" - and most of that stuff and activity is NOT basic stuff but secondary/tertiary industry - non-essential stuff but certainly comforts us. Where's the sustainable level?
I keep coming back to the book of Revelations and Babylon (Chapter 18) as one of the best, most accurate metaphors for an economic system that controls and uses up human beings and indeed the planet, (as opposed to an economic system that is under our control and serves our long-term best interests).
All the dark language in the chapter to me represents the spirits behind the decisions we all make that lead us into this kind of economy. As most of us are merely reacting to what happens around us we end up being managed into a kind of economy that was not necessarily of our own choosing - if you get my drift. We are being 'managed' by the over-arching summation of all our "small" spirits of self-intention and greed that we all succumb to at least part (if not most) of the time.
Here are two interesting videos that provide more insight and hopefully point towards some solutions:
1. The Story of Stuff
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
2. The Fast I Choose
http://signpostvillage.com/thevillagevoice/2007/07/the-fast-i-choose-steve-bells-journey-to-ethiopia/
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
When Travel Agents get lost...
Can you spot the error in Geography here...? Hint - Lake Ontario is not actually considered part of the Atlantic ocean!!
Trans-Canada Rail Adventure
Vancouver to Toronto
Discover Canada's diverse scenery and culture on this cross-country journey from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast and featuring all the highlights in between.
Canada is a country built by rail. What better way to explore it than by train? This tour will take you between Vancouver and Toronto, with visits to Niagara Falls and the mountain towns of Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper included along the way.
Carlson Wagonlit travel may need to brush up on their geography?
Friday, January 4, 2008
At the Mug
We've been doing a few "open practice" evenings at the Mermaid's Mug in Nanaimo - a rather unique setting! A great place by the way for a bite to eat or mug of coffee...
Here's a few minutes of Gregg and me making it up as we go along:
Here's a few minutes of Gregg and me making it up as we go along:
Dr. Phil out of touch? Oh my!
Too Modest for TV?
WENDY SHALIT
Girls gone mild? Not for Dr. Phil.
...http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0157.htm
Religious persecution...
I liked this article for the sense of accuracy in what is reported as persecution. And it admits that persecution against Christians in Canada is almost unheard of, though there are some trends to be aware of.
Mainly, I was impressed with this vision of the persecuted church:
"Living on the edge—never knowing when the knock on the door means you will be taken away; whispering hymns for fear of being heard; being arrested, imprisoned or tortured—one might expect the persecuted to be resentful or in despair. But reports and pictures that come back from China, Sudan, Indonesia, the Middle East and other parts of the world show Christians who exude joy. They seem to go about their tasks with peace in their hearts. They appear to be strong in their faith. And they pray for those who persecute them."
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1735&srcid=817
Mainly, I was impressed with this vision of the persecuted church:
"Living on the edge—never knowing when the knock on the door means you will be taken away; whispering hymns for fear of being heard; being arrested, imprisoned or tortured—one might expect the persecuted to be resentful or in despair. But reports and pictures that come back from China, Sudan, Indonesia, the Middle East and other parts of the world show Christians who exude joy. They seem to go about their tasks with peace in their hearts. They appear to be strong in their faith. And they pray for those who persecute them."
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1735&srcid=817
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