on the Pilgrimage

Merry Christmas - Unto us a Son is given, unto us a Saviour is born. God moved into the neighbourhood! O come, let us rejoice in the Lord as we declare this present mystery: The partition wall of disunion has been destroyed, the flaming sword is turned back, the cherubim withdraw from the Tree of Life, and I partake of the food of Paradise, whence I had been expelled because of disobedience. For the immutable Image of the Father, the Image of His eternity, takes the form of a servant, having come forth of a Mother unwedded, yet having suffered no change. For that which He was, He remains, being very God; and that which He was not, He has assumed, becoming true man because of His love for humankind. Unto Him let us cry aloud: O God, who was born of a Virgin, have mercy upon us! (Vespers Sticharion,Tone 2) AN URBAN CHRISTMAS By Bill Senyard The “Land of the Free”?? He wondered what that meant. The Department of Homeland Security was becoming more and more powerful. No one was real...

I feel compelled to share part of my personal journal reflection on the coming season. It is not uncommon for His Spirit to come upon me as I journal, and an illumination from beyond me occurs. I was pondering the exposure that Christ has been receiving in our Western culture over the last few years, and seems to be building. This included things like The Passion of the Christ (and the controversy surrounding that), The DaVinci Code (and the controversy surrounding that), and The Nativity Story (sans controversy ... and publicity). I was reflecting on past messages I have heard and readings I have read. I was meditating on the idea of 'story', of the narrative, of ‘The Christmas Story’ - and wondering: is it isolated? or is there possibly more than meets the eye? From my journal ... Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006 Here we are again, the first Sunday in Advent. To prepare ... prepare what? for what do I prepare? To make ready ... what should I make ready? To anticipate ... wha...

(I know that school has begun, and that I am unemployed, and that much has happened since my last entry, of which I might still cover via topics. But with particular things happening, I decide today to take a shift and write a bit about a topic that I've alluded to here, and seems to have begun to surround me more and more. So, I"ll wait with that and write about this instead ... ) Last April, someone I greatly respected and admired had a massive 'moral fall'. Last June, someone else that I admire and respect made some moral choices that disconnected with what he claimed for his truth. And now, this month, the very vocal Christian leader Ted Haggard has also revealed that he has been living a double life - speaking out against homosexuality on one side of his mouth and engaging in these same kinds of acts behind closed doors. These are only three such Christian examples, but I am certain that there are many more that populate any given pew on any given Sunday that can...

Still one of the land of the living ... end of the semester is coming to a stress-filled end. The worst is yet to come ... and as of right now, there are no whisperings of continuing next year. To be honest? Right now that is good. Right now I long to rest and re-discover living and life. A teacher-friend of mine kept a file / list of things that she wanted to do when she was unemployed ... maybe I should begin the same thing. (I have a ton of marking to do, and here I sit ... oh well, 5 min. more ... starting ... NOW!) - begin to do some serious writing - check websites about career and life changes - visit a life coach (I found one in the city!) - go to view some show homes - seriously take up running - get my car tuned-up - buy new tires (I'll finally have time to do some shopping!) - clean my space! - re-catalogue my computer files since the crash - re-catalogue my cd/music files - create theme cds - read!!! (I have a ton of books that I've started, but few that I'...

The last five months have been one blow below the belt after another. I feel that when God has something to tell me, He leaves no stone unturned - He shreds every part of who He created me to be. The last five months have been part by part destruction, a break-down component by component. When creating a character, I break down a character into six parts - the physical, the emotional, the intellectual, the relational, the sexual, and the spiritual. I pondered through how every part of my character was in the process of being affected - my physical well-being (my health is slipping, weight is returning), my emotional well-being (I'm increasingly more unhappy, more quick to anger, more agitated with living with dad), my intellectual well-being (I hunger for thinking, for learning, for growing and can seem to find no one to enter into this dialogue with me, no one - save one), my relational well-being (if mom were alive right now, she would be glad, for she would have achieved wh...

Ok ... this is something I could really get into. Sitting with my Venti Non-fat Latte and doing some blogging from a local Starbucks. Now, the fact that this is being done at almost 2 pm on a school day might make people wonder if this teacher is skipping with the kids that were just here ... no, I am waiting for a medical appointment that I set for today. An hour massage - which is highly needed. I was a little worried that it might be a little tough to get online, but it was easy!! Man ... wireless internet and a laptop. I am in heaven! Now, what am I waiting for? I should really get started on my first novel - have laptop will travel? The honest truth is that right now, my life has gone into utter chaos. This last month has been such that I want to get myself out of this and remember it so that it never repeats again. Gotta love it - when God decides its time to get me to grow, not one stone is left unturned in my life! Home, personal, work, professional, financial, future ... the w...

Time ... something we all have the same amount of, but something that each uses in a different way. I look to others and wonder how we have the same amount of something yet they seem to produce way more than I do with what we have the same of. How do they do it? What am I doing wrong? I am back at school - teaching, that is. And this time it is English 10-1, 20-2, and Tech Theatre. One semester contract. And being evaluated, too. I have so much to do I don't know where to begin, so I steal a moment here. Actually, even here things are wonky. For I am without a computer at the moment, mine being serviced. I would never think that I've become so dependant on something that is plastic and wires and bits of metal, but truly - from a professional standpoint, as well as a personal one, I think the only way I could be computer-less for an indefinite period of time is for all to be without computers. Back to the same playing ground. The Winter Olympics began yesterday in Tur...