Knight of the sorrowful countenance

by Geoff Ryan

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n the evening of Friday, September 12 David Foster Wallace’s wife came home shortly after 9:00 p.m. to find her husband had hanged himself. He was 46 and is survived by his wife, parents and a sister. He had no children. I had never even heard of the guy until I read the news reports of his suicide.

David Foster Wallace was a writer, but not just any writer, it turns out. He burst onto the American literary scene in 1996 with a 1,079 page novel entitled Infinite Jest, a non-linear piece of piece of writing containing almost as many footnotes as the rest of body of text.

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Ragamuffin: poverty - part 4

Each expression unique

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ne author states this truth, “The expression ‘the poor are always with us’ means that there will always be people who live in poverty and so need assistance from others  (Manser, M. H., Fleming, N. B., Hughes, K., & Bridges, R. F. (2000, c1999).

I never knew that was in the Bible!. Rev. ed. of: The Bible word book / Ronald Bridges. 1960. (electronic ed.) (339).

The truth is so evident that there will always be a need for social services from us to others in need.  We endeavor to reduce the crisis that we find in the families and individuals around us through our services and our ministry.

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Thinkaloud | election manifesto

A word to all

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n both Canada and the United States election fever is at high pitch. Political parties draw up platforms and some will even issue manifestos that set forth in detail their intentions, while at the same time doing their best to distinguish themselves from opposing parties.   Here is a manifesto, a challenge to those who seek election to public office. There are no party politics but there are issue politics.

1. Let those who seek public office not forget that any position of responsibility they hold, they hold in trust. Their power is derived, they do not own power.
2. Let those who seek public office not forget the roots of these great North American countries, and the foundation of faith which – under God – has given them a measure of stability and compassion among the nations of the world. › Continue reading
   
   Sunday, September 28th, 2008 Thinkaloud No Comments

Double~take | prayer

prayers to a dead-end voicemail

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his week I managed to call the voicemail of a phone that we’ve had difficulty in accessing. After sitting through 18 new messages (dating from June), I finally got to the call I had just missed. The message bank was full.

It’s the situation I envisage myself in over the next couple of weeks. Did you know that after flushing your cellphone down the toilet, it still takes a bit for the water to completely destroy it? I tried calling my phone, and waited through 15 rings till I hit voicemail. Now my phone no longer rings - and I have no idea how to access any messages which people may leave. R.I.P. phone.

I theorized that this can be like prayer. I know there are a heap of verses that speak of God not listening to our prayers if there is unresolved sin in our life, and not hearing rote prayers when people think he will answer them because of their many words.

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The sacrament of the Good Samaritan

Jason Davies-Kildea asks: an identity crisis?

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t seems that The Salvation Army is currently experiencing a serious identity crisis.  We are no longer sure of who we are and what we should be doing in the world.  Some of the symptoms of this crisis are evident in tensions about worship styles and uniform, but the most significant divide appears to be between our evangelical and social work.  How can we re-unite the dual mission of The Salvation Army?  Any way forward needs to be faithful to our history, without simply idealising the past.  It also needs to be biblically sound and relevant to our contemporary context.  Perhaps it’s time to reclaim the sacrament of the Good Samaritan?

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Deeper shade of grey | 11 across

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he advantage of Salvation Army uniform is that it draws questions. Kate and I rushed out at lunch time to the supermarket to get some food for the house. I went for the bread and was aware of the member of staff bearing down on me.

As our trolleys pass in the bread aisle he fires a broadside! “Salvation Army?”

“Yes!”

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

I pump myself up. He’s an older guy - perhaps wanting to find out more about how faith can impact his life; perhaps searching for something that has been missing in his life; perhaps some deep regret eating away at his sense of peace. I - resplendent in my uniform - am in the right place and the right time for him.

“Sure” I look expectantly.

“Who is the General of The Salvation Army?”

Not the question I was expecting - nevertheless I am able to give him the answer to 11 across in the crossword puzzle he was doing.

He goes away happy! Whistling.

Deeper shade of grey appears every Wednesday on theRubicon. Find past posts and a bio of Capt. Gordon Cotterill here.

Newsflash!

Followers of Homeless Man Hit Hard by Market Meltdown!

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everal weeks ago I sat in the office of an acquaintance of mine. He works for a high profile wealth management firm here in Toronto. He manages money for rich people. He is a humble, godly, generous man who personally supports a wide range of Christian endeavours all over the globe. He ambled into the boardroom where I was waiting for him on the 39th floor of a building on Bay Street (Toronto’s Wall Street). It was a Friday afternoon and his top shirt button was undone, tie askew, jacket off and sleeves rolled up.

Plunking himself down opposite me, he let out a sigh before smiling wearily. He said something about the markets and how he would be working through the weekend at his office. The working weekend I understood, the thing about the markets - not so much. I understand money matters even less than I understand 17th century Mayan cosmology.

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Ragamuffin: poverty - part 3

Who is poor?

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n retired pastor Jack Hayford’s study of Proverbs he gives three views about poverty which help us to focus our plan in helping those in poverty.  “First, some people became poor by misfortune or disaster, which was beyond their control.  These people should be helped by those who have wealth. In fact, by giving to these poor, we give to God, and He will bless us (Prov. 19:17).

A second view in Proverbs is that a person is better poor than wicked and rich (Prov. 19:22). The unjust, deceitful gain of riches is a curse which results in bad things for such a foolish person (Prov. 20:17, 21, 23).  Finally, there is the person who is poor because of laziness and foolishness. He has all the potential and opportunity to do right and be successful, but he causes his own destruction by his folly. Such a person has few friends (Prov. 19:4); even his family has no use for him (Prov. 19:7) (Hayford, J. W., & Thorpe, R. S., 1997).

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Thinkaloud | in whose steps?

WWJD… unworkable, gauche?

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s it naive and impractical to live as Jesus lived by asking yourself “What would Jesus do?” The conviction that such action was not only practical but also necessary for every Christian was the theme of In His Steps, a book written by Charles M. Sheldon. It was published in 1896 and is still in print, having influenced  generations of Christians. In recent years there has had a revival of interest in the novel, with many young Christians wearing plastic wristbands bearing the letters WWJD (What would Jesus do”)

Sheldon’s book portrays the sincere attempt of members of a church to make every decision of life pass the scrutiny of that question, and details the consequences of such actions.

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Double~take | star gazing

Ignorance could be deadly

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his week saw the Harvest Moon - apparently so named because it is the last full moon before the autumnal equinox or something. We saw it as we drove east to get ice cream at the Beaches [an area of Toronto, Canada], and it was huge and yellow and low, and very much in danger of being confused with all the lights and signs along the street. Optical illusion or not, it still looked gorgeous.

I’ve done a fair amount of star gazing this year, which is unusual because in Toronto most of the stars are hazed out by light pollution. Once a while ago, someone pointed out the Big Dipper to a couple of us who were together. Except that it wasn’t the Big Dipper. I strained my eyes to see it where it was pointed out, but after a while, I realized that it wasn’t there. We were looking west, not north. I turned to the right, and BOOM, there it was, large as life.

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