IN THE BEGINNING, AS IN THE END, WE ARE ALL OF THE SAME RACE

Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? The age-old question of our origin has been baffling mankind for centuries. For most of our history, it was widely accepted that man had been created by an omnipresent, omnipotent, God or Gods. Most ancient texts such as the Bible, Torah and The Sumerian tablets seem to all contain similar stories of such beginnings. Almost all religions are based on this God/creation premise in some form or another. It wasn’t until the mid 1800’s when Charles Darwin introduced his Theory of Evolution that the creation theory was even questioned, and the battle between religion and science began.

Darwin’s Theory, while scientifically sound, still leaves many questions unanswered:

1. Why the vast appearance and chromosomal differences between cro-magnon and homosapiens?

2. How did modern man seemingly just “appear” out of nowhere, wearing clothing and organizing societies (intelligent)?

3. What is the “missing link”?

4. Which is the truth? Science, religion or a combination of both?

The Bible does not explicitly give us the origin of the different “races” or skin colors in humanity. In actuality, there is only one race—the human race. Within the human race is diversity in skin color and other physical characteristics. Some speculate that when God confused the languages at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), He also created racial diversity.

It is possible that God made genetic changes to humanity to better enable people to survive in different ecologies, such as the darker skin of Africans being better equipped genetically to survive the excessive heat in Africa, or the physical make up of the Eskimo more conducive to withstanding the extremes of the frozen north. According to this view, God confused the languages, causing humanity to segregate linguistically, and then created genetic racial differences based on where each racial group would eventually settle. While possible, there is no explicit biblical basis for this view. The races/skin colors of humanity are nowhere mentioned in connection with the tower of Babel.

(Some scholars believe that this marks the point in history where God divided the earth into separate continents. The biblical story of the Tower of Babel is believed by many to be the record of a real historical event that took place after the worldwide Flood, at a time when the earth’s population still lived together in one place.)

At the Tower of Babel, when the different languages came into existence, groups that spoke one language moved away with others of the same language. In doing so, the gene pool for a specific group shrank dramatically as the group no longer had the entire human population to mix with. Closer inbreeding took place, and in time certain features were emphasized in these different groups (all of which were present as a possibility in the genetic code). As further inbreeding occurred through the generations, the gene pool grew smaller and smaller, to the point that people of one language family all had the same or similar features.

Another explanation is that Adam and Eve possessed the genes to produce black, brown, and white offspring (and everything else in between). This would be similar to how a mixed-race couple sometimes has children that vary in color. 

Since God obviously desired humanity to be diverse in appearance, it makes sense that God would have given Adam and Eve the ability to produce children of different skin tones. Later, the only survivors of the Great Flood that preserved the Hebrew bloodline of Jesus Christ were Noah and his wife, Noah’s three sons and their wives—eight people in all (Genesis 7:13).

(The significance of Noah, according to Genesis, is that the population of the Earth was completely destroyed during The Flood because of the wickedness of the inhabitants, and Noah and his family were the sole eight survivors to continue and repopulate the human race. Thus the view of history in the Bible is that all humans on Earth are descended from Noah's family.)

Perhaps Noah’s daughters-in-law were of different races. It is also possible that Noah’s wife was of a different race than Noah. Maybe all eight of them were of mixed race, which would mean they possessed the genetics to produce children of different races.

As I say, it is all very mind-boggling.  Inquisitive minds will continue to seek answers to the origins of mankind while some of us will simply acquit ourselves to clinging to the faith of our fathers as a reason for our being. I have spent a lot of time and energy on this mysterious subject in the past and this is where I am content to leave it.

Whatever the explanation, the most important aspect of this question is that we are all the same race, all created by the same God, all created for the same purpose -- to glorify The Creator and to live as good a life as is humanly possible.  Amen?

AT LEAST I'M ON ROSANNE'S "LOVE LIST"...SO IS OUR DOG LUCY

My wife Rosanne "loves" everything, literally.  Countless times a day she "just loves" animals, babies, food, coffee, music, game shows and old movies -- you get the idea.

The other day as the television credits were rolling on a 1940 movie, "It's A Date", starring Winnipeg Sweetheart Deanna Durbin and Walter Pidgeon, she exclaimed with endearing emphasis "I just love Deanna Durbin...always have!"

"Is there anything you don't love?" I asked, hoping to get a rise out of her...And she did not disappoint.  "I've got a big heart and there's room to love a lot of things," she answered with conviction.   That was my opening.

With tongue-in-cheek, I asked: "Well, instead of loving dead actresses that you never met, why don't you show a little more of that love to someone a little closer to home (meaning me)?"

"I do," she said, "and you and Lucy (our dog) are at the top of the list!"

I was left with kind of a warm feeling, even though I shared top spot on the list with Lucy.  At my age, you take love when and where you can get it!

CHRISTIANITY TODAY: WE HAVE FAILED OUR YOUNGER GENERATIONS...BUT HOW MANY OF US REALLY CARE ABOUT WHAT THE FUTURE MAY HOLD?

I am tackling today a subject that has been on my mind for some time and for which I have no ready answers.  It has to do with the decline of religion in the 20th and 21st centuries and a growing nonchalant, take-it-or-leave-it attitude on the part of even those who profess to be "Christian", as arm's-length as that may be.

This has been driven home to me, especially when I have posted religious items on Wright Lane and subsequently on Facebook.  I get numerous comments and "Likes" on some of my less serious "puff" pieces, but virtually no feedback on more thought-provoking religious stories with bonafide messages, some of which take days to formulate and to compose.  It has been suggested by one authority, that people do not like to read, or comment on, subjects that they do not understand or do not have a personal interest in.  This may well be the case, I'm not sure.

I know for a fact that there are those who will say "What qualifies Dick Wright to speak/write on religious matters?  What does he know? I knew him when and he wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree...etc."  In other words, generally speaking, I am not necessarily always taken seriously or understood.  I liken it to when I was writing newspaper editorials for many years and I got the feeling that I was continually tossing handfuls of mothballs (thoughts, ideas, convictions) into the air and having them float aimlessly, never landing.  Feedback was generally in the form of an objection to something that I had written...So I am used to being ignored, but I keep exercising my compulsion in the hope that I can at least stimulated some thought and somehow, somewhere along the line, a few like-thinkers will be able to relate.

I have no reason to believe that what follows will be any better embraced but this too will be reality, as I see it.

Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms refers to "God", and the monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith". However, Canada has no official religion, and support for religious pluralism (Freedom of religion in Canada) is an important part of Canada's political culture. The 2011 Canadian census reported that 67 per cent of Canadians claim adherence to Christianity, followed by no religion at 24 per cent but rates of religious adherence have been steadily decreasing.

It has been recently suggested that with Christianity on decline, having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life; Canada has come to enter a post-Christian period in secular state, with irreligion in Canada on the rise. The practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and within the state. Additionally a majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant, but still believe in God.

I am a lay minister and teaching elder in a small community church with an aging congregation that will have extreme difficulty sustaining itself financially in the coming year. Ninety per cent of the members are over 70 years of age and ministers find themselves "preaching to the choir" and holding the status quo. There are no young people in my home church (with the exception of two grade school youngsters who are being exposed to a church environment by their grandparents). Sadly, and in all honesty, the life-expectancy of this church is in the three to five-year range, if that. It has been suggested that churches like this, and there are several dozen in the Presbytery that I serve, have not sufficiently changed in an ever-changing society...It is understood that increased emphasis must be placed on community viability and outreach missions both at home and abroad.  For many aging churches with limited human and financial resources, however, this is a tall order.

The Catch 22 in all of this is that in order to be viable in any community, churches need youthful involvement and that is just not happening. For that I blame my permissive generation and the situation is virtually irrevocable. I fear that we have lost several generations in the process and the jury is out as to where this is going to lead in the end.

It would seem that we have a generation of people who actually challenge the things that their elders took as gospel. In my formative years in the 1940s, religion was taught with no room for question. At best "the Lord moves in mysterious ways" was the only answer one could expect to some youthful questions and that was accepted by us. We have arrived at a point where young people question the "authority" of religion and may even see it as a man made creation to satisfy questions that we ourselves have difficulty answering. By and large, the "faith" aspect of religion is no longer accepted and comprehended by young people and that's where we elders have fallen short. We have not made religion relative in the lives of our younger generations.

We are told by number-crunchers that one-fifth of North Americans today are religiously unaffiliated — higher than at any time in recent history — and those younger than 30 especially seem to be drifting from organized religion. A third of of them say they do not belong to any religion...and this includes my own children and grandchildren -- a sad admission, on my part.

To understand this phenomenon, a round table of six young people was recently organized — three young women and three young men — all struggling with the role of faith and religion in their lives.  The following is the reality of rather naive and disturbing views that reflect an overall lack of understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Miriam Nissly, 29, was raised Jewish and considers herself Jewish with an "agnostic bent." She loves going to synagogue

"I realize maybe there's a disconnect there — why are you doing it if you don't necessarily have a belief in God? But I think there's a cultural aspect, there's a spiritual aspect, I suppose. I find the practice of sitting and being quiet and being alone with your thoughts to be helpful, but I don't think I need to answer that question [about God] in order to participate in the traditions I was brought up with."

Yusuf Ahmad, 33, raised Muslim, is now an atheist. His doubts set in as a child with sacred stories he just didn't believe

"Like the story of Abraham — his God tells him to sacrifice his son. Then he takes his son to sacrifice him, and he turns into a goat. I remember growing up, in like fifth [or] sixth grade I'd hear these stories and be like, 'That's crazy! Why would this guy do this? Just because he heard a voice in his head, he went to sacrifice his son and it turned into a goat?' There's no way that this happened. I wasn't buying it.

"Today if some guy told you that 'I need to sacrifice my son because God told me to do it,' he'd be locked up in a crazy institution."

Kyle Simpson, 27, raised Christian. He has a tattoo on the inside of his wrist that says "Salvation from the cross" in Latin

"It's a little troublesome now when people ask me. I tell them and they go, 'Oh, you're a Christian,' and I try to skirt the issue now. They go, 'What does that mean?' and it's like, "It's Latin for 'I made a mistake when I was 18.'

"When I first got the tattoo I remember thinking, 'Oh, this will be great because when I'm having troubles in my faith I will be able to look at it, and I can't run away from it.' And that is exactly what is happening.

"I don't [believe in God] but I really want to. That's the problem with questions like these is you don't have anything that clearly states, 'Yes, this is fact,' so I'm constantly struggling. But looking right at the facts — evolution and science — they're saying, no there is none. But what about love? What about the ideas of forgiveness? I like to believe they are true and they are meaningful.

"I think having a God would create a meaning for our lives, like we're working toward a purpose — and it's all worthwhile because at the end of the day we will maybe move on to another life where everything is beautiful. I love that idea."

Melissa Adelman, 30, raised Catholic

"Starting in middle school we got the lessons about why premarital sex was not OK, why active homosexuality was not OK, and growing up in American culture, kids automatically pushed back on those things, and so we had some of those conversations in school with our theology teachers. The thing for me — a large part of the reason I moved away from Catholicism was because without accepting a lot of these core beliefs, I just didn't think that I could still be part of that community.

"I remember a theology test in eighth grade where there was a question about homosexuality, and the right answer was that if you are homosexual, then that is not a sin because that's how God made you, but acting upon it would be a sin. That's what I put down as the answer, but I vividly remember thinking to myself that that was not the right answer."

Rigoberto Perez, 30, raised as Seventh-day Adventist

"It was a fairly important part of our lives. It was something we did every Saturday morning. We celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. It was pretty hard growing up in a lot of ways. We didn't have a lot of money, the household wasn't very stable a lot of the time, so when something bad would happen, say a prayer, go to church. When my mom got cancer the first time, it was something that was useful at the time for me as a coping mechanism.

"While I was younger, my father drank a lot. There was abuse in the home. My brother committed suicide in 2001. So at some point you start to say, 'Why does all this stuff happen to people?' And if I pray and nothing good happens, is that supposed to be I'm being tried? I find that almost kind of cruel in some ways. It's like burning ants with a magnifying glass. Eventually that gets just too hard to believe anymore."

Lizz Reeves, 23, raised by a Jewish mother and a Christian father. She lost a brother to cancer.

"I wanted so badly to believe in God and in heaven, and that's where my brother was going. I wanted to have some sort of purpose and meaning associated with his passing. And ultimately the more time I spent thinking about it, I realized the purpose and meaning of his life had nothing to do with heaven, but it had to do with how I could make choices in my life that give his life meaning. And that had a lot more weight with me than any kind of faith in anything else."

These very honest responses make my heart bleed and my soul cry.  Without exception there is a very real need for young people to believe in something and to find truth in life, but Christianity as presented to them (or as they perceive it) is not cutting it for them today.  They are not getting the right answers to their questions.  Neither are they being listened to and therein lies a big difference between the days of my youth and today.  Kids in the 21st century want to be heard, whereas I was taught to be seen and not heard.  Adults today can learn a lot if they are open to "listening" to their kids with understanding and sensitivity in a today perspective.

Then again, could it be that our young people are just too smart for their own good (or think they are)? Maybe so!   But that does not let my generation off the hook  In many respects we have failed in providing moral fibre by not passing on the "faith of our fathers"..And speaking for my parents in particular, they would be ashamed of me for letting that happen in my own life.

As stated earlier, society tends to reject Christianity or to relegate it to the private sphere: That is to say, a detachment from God as the origin and meaning of life, and therefore of experience.  It is as if God responded to "piety" and not to the demands of life. Therefore, unconsciously, we accept the role that society has decided to reserve for Christians, and that is to be the religious supplement, the soul for the fulfilment of one's own plans, instead of using our judgment and so sharing in the common aspiration of humanity for happiness.

The difficulties that young people have with Christianity today are a dramatic interrogative for the parents and spiritual leaders who may, or may not, have influenced them. Therefore we should ask ourselves, like T.S. Eliot in Choruses from the Rock, "Has the Church failed mankind, or has mankind failed the Church?"

I pray that it is not too late to turn things around for the up-and-coming generation.  Would that Dick Wright -- the "not-too-bright", often out-spoken, long-in-the-tooth sinner -- had the necessary answers.  

What we need in all of this is a Saviour to rescue us...Come to think of it -- He already has!  All we have to do is to continue following Him in the hope that enough Godliness has rubbed off on some young people today to enable them to follow the Christian path in keeping trust and love alive for generations to come.

God help society otherwise!

SEVEN SIMPLE PRIORITIES COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN 2014

The holidays are over, family and friends have returned home, the trappings of Christmas have been put away for another year (unless you are married to a child of the Ukraine like me) and now its time to go back to work and school.  In a way, that is kind of depressing, isn't it.

And even more depressing than that are the new year’s resolutions we make and then so quickly break. We make a lot of resolutions and promises to ourselves at this time of year, right?  And then we promptly go about breaking every one of them in a matter of mere days.

An old Irish New Year’s toast goes like this, “May all your troubles in the coming year be as short as your New Year’s resolutions.”  I would really like to think more positively than that however.

God offers us more hope than that. In 2 Cor. 5:17, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

A new calendar tells us that we have been given a fresh gift to build and change our lives. Every new year and every new day is an opportunity make it better than the day before and the year before.  We would do well to make a commitment to focus more on spiritual things in this new year.

I do not hesitate to say that our focus and priorities should no longer be centered in the things of this earth, but on the things of God. This, of course, is a very real challenge, because we still have to live in the real world, with all of its stresses and struggles.

Focusing on spiritual things does not remove the stress and struggle altogether, but it certainly makes a huge difference in our ability to both survive and thrive.  In trying to live a more spiritually focused life in the new year, I emphasize seven practical priorities for serious consideration. I'd call them "resolutions", but then we might not keep them.

Priority #1 - Forget About Yesterday
The Apostle Paul wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14).  It should be understood that Paul was a man who had some things from his past that could haunt him if he let them. He had made some terrible mistakes that brought great suffering to others.

There is not one of us who doesn’t have something negative in our past that could immobilize us.  Failures, hurts, disappointments happen to all of us.  But God does not want us dwelling on them, rather He would have us come to Him for forgiveness and healing of the pain and regret of yesterday.

It is God’s gift to us that we can walk in newness of life, that we can forget those things in the past and live in the present.  So that’s a good place for us to start the new year, to forget about yesterday.

Priority #2 -- Don't worry about tomorrow
I know that forgetting about tomorrow is easier said than done.  Tomorrow can be so overwhelming with the potential for pain and insufficiency.

Jesus gave us this prescription, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life?...So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Those words were taken from Matthew 6.

I’m not trying to pretend that any of this is easy, but I am certain that there is no better way.  Corrie Ten Boom, who had suffered greatly in her life said, “Worry does not empty tomorrow of sorrows; it empties today of strength.”

Whatever we face in this new year, we will be better off if we make it a priority to forget the past, and not worry about the future.

Priority #3 - Make Today Count
The famous funny man, Groucho Marx, said, “Yesterday is gone - tomorrow isn’t here yet. I have just one day - today - and I can choose how I shall be! And I choose to be happy!!”  The only day we have and literally the only moment we have is now.  We are not promised tomorrow, nor even the rest of today!

Psalm 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  As we try to take life one day at a time, and make each day count, we can free ourselves from the burden of the past, and the worry of the future.

The following four priorities are really ways to make each day count.

Priority #4 - Help Every Person You Can
When we focus all our attention on ourselves, we get lost in our struggles, but when we turn our attention outward, we realize the tremendous blessing of helping others.  Every person we encounter is facing some kind of challenge, or is carrying some kind of heartache.  Our own personal struggles or heartaches may be bigger or smaller than theirs, but it makes no difference.

If we seek to be a blessing to everyone we meet, then both of us will be blessed.  Paul again wrote in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”   In the chapter before that one, Paul beautifully summarized the Christian life with these words, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Isn’t that good?  What a great year and great life we can live if we focus on others and attempt to help every person we can!  Come on now...How difficult can that be?

Priority #5 - Keep Your Heart Pure
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”   Any mechanic ill tell you that a clean engine runs better and delivers more power than a dirty one. The same is true of a pure heart.  We make a terrible mistake when we collect and retain all kinds of garbage in our hearts.

Think of things like evil desires, resentments, jealousy, hatred and thoughts of revenge.  These things eat away at us like a cancer. They poison our hearts and block our ability to see God and experience a vibrant spiritual life.

It was also Paul who wrote, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Again, I’m not trying to say that any of this is easy.  In Romans 7, Paul talked about his very real struggle to do what he knew was right. I can testify to how difficult it is for me to keep my heart and life pure, but this must be our ongoing priority. If we give into temptation and evil, and allow it to take up residence in our hearts, then our entire lives will be harmed and hindered.

But just as Paul concluded, I believe that God will give us the relief and the resources we need to develop a pure heart and life. Thank God there is hope for us.

Priority #6 - Renew Your Strength Daily
One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 40:28-31, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

I don’t know about you, but I need some of that!  Just as our bodies require daily nourishment from food and water, so does our spirit.  We need daily nourishment for our souls.

Priority #7 - Act on God’s Promises and Commands

In Philippians 4:9, Paul summarized his instructions to the Philippine Christians, saying, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”  There is no substitute for faith and obedience.

As we move into this new year, let’s make it a priority to claim God’s promises and in so doing walk by faith.  The old Nike commercial, “Just Do It,” is a good recipe when it comes to acting on the forgoing Seven Priorities in the next 12 months.

Be the best you can be, dear reader...and have the best year of your life while you are at it!

Acknowledgments:  David Garrett and David Owens

ARIELLE FORD: THE ALCHEMY OF TRAGEDY

By Arielle Ford

I have often referred to, and quoted from, the work of Arielle Ford who has impressed me as an author, speaker, relationship expert and genuine person.  Arielle has invited me to re-produce a year-end piece she wrote for the Huffington Post in recent days and I have been so touched by it that I gladly herewith oblige. In "The Alchemy of Tragedy" Arielle refers to 2013 as arguably the worst year of her life, yet one that actually brought many unexpected and surprising life-changing gifts for her. I know that you will be as moved as I have been. 

James Costello was one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing earlier this year. He was seriously injured and he now claims that while this was the worst moment of his life, he wouldn't trade it for anything because it became the best thing that ever happened to him.  Why?

Because it led to him meeting his future bride, Krista D'Agostino, a nurse at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital where he was transferred after undergoing multiple surgeries over two weeks at Massachusetts General Hospital. The two began a relationship that culminated in a wedding proposal in France during a recent 10-day trip.

I love this story because it so clearly demonstrates that while we are quick to judge something as bad or wrong, awful or terrible, the reality is this: sometimes the best comes out of the worst.

After all, where do you think all these maxims come from?

-- There is always a silver lining.
-- Make lemonade out of lemons.
-- There's a pony in here somewhere (when the room you are in is full of manure).
-- Cross over to the sunny side of the street.
-- Have an attitude of gratitude.
-- When one door closes, another opens.
-- This is a blessing in disguise.

I wasn't born an optimist. In fact, quite the opposite. I was a moody, sullen, often seriously depressed child and young adult.

One night, at age 26, I decided that I was going to find the secret of happiness. I was at a party in Coconut Grove, Florida, at the waterfront home of a millionaire, surrounded by people seemingly having a great time. I felt like such an outsider amidst the laughing, smiling party-goers. I had never felt so alone.  I wanted to have a great time, I just didn't know how. I thought it was something that just "happened" to lucky people.

In that moment, as I stood on the dock overlooking beautiful Biscayne Bay, I promised myself that I would do whatever it took to discover the secret to happiness.

During next several years I went to therapy, read a lot of books, attended workshops and discovered that most of the time happiness is a choice. Even when really bad stuff is happening!

I found out that I am an HSP -- a highly sensitive person and essentially very shy. I had to break through my fear of people and really make an effort to learn how to connect, make small talk, and allow myself to "be seen."

It wasn't easy but on a deep intuitive level I knew that in order to live, I had to be willing to do what the amazing Dr. Susan Jeffers advised "feel the fear and do it anyway."

And eventually I radically evolved into a happy, outgoing, optimist. On a soul level, I discovered that I could source my own happiness, in spite of the circumstances. I now believe that I live in a friendly universe.

This past year I really had to dig deep to recoup my core happiness. After the loss of my sister, Debbie Ford, I wasn't sure I would ever find joy again. Yes, I had been in the grieving process before having lost grandparents, my Dad, my step-Dad, a beloved Aunt...but this was bigger, deeper and massively unacceptable.

Part of my recovery was allowing myself all the time I needed to be sad, depressed and miserable. I didn't restrict myself to mine, or anyone else's, timetable of how the grieving process should go. I gave myself permission to say no to everyone and everything that I didn't have the energy for (which was nearly everyone and everything).

Even though I had been brought up to believe that it's selfish to think of yourself first, it became clear to me that my survival depended on my ability to give myself a new and deep level of love and self-care.

And then, slowly, I began to notice, moments of joy popping up.

-- I found the ability to smile and laugh again.
-- I discovered I was having more moments of ok'ness than not.
-- And, I made major changes in the way I "do" life.

I stated working much less and resting much more and this how now become my new lifestyle. Not only am I happy again, I am physically restored, and the Universe sends me near-daily signs that I am on the right track. My creative projects are flowing, money comes from unexpected sources, ideas appear like gifts from the heavens.

The day I heard James Costello's story I had just been thinking about the paradox of how this past year had gone. While I could say this was the worst year of my life, in many unexpected ways it has also been the best year of my life. How is this possible?

Because the positive lifestyle changes that I've made, which I feel were completely guided by my sister from the other side, will impact the rest of my life and most likely wouldn't have happened without the loss of losing her.

The ancient Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi honors all things imperfect and impermanent and seeks to uncover perfection in imperfection. That is what 2013 has been for me -- a process of filling in the deep wounds in my life with 24-karat gold -- not to forget what has happened but as a way to find beauty in the midst of tragedy.

My sister created an amazing body of work known as The Shadow Process where she led people to find "the gold in their own darkness." This year she helped me find "gold" during my dark night of the soul.

Where have you found "gold" in a bad situation? How has a "negative" experience helped you discover a part of you that you now wouldn't give up?

Thank you for this Arielle...As always, I totally relate!

WAYS TO BE PROACTIVE IN FIGHTING CANCER

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER,  WORLD-FAMOUS JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY IN BALTIMORE IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL US THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD.

Here is what we now learn:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between six to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to STARVE the cancer cells by not feeding it with foods it needs to multiple.  What cancer cells feed on:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Note: Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells will starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes t o nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try to drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables two or three times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine (easier said than done, I know). Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines will become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.  Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Capturing your Weather December 31, 2013

BREECHES, A TERRIBLE BOYHOOD DRESS INFLICTION

There is no particular revelation in reinforcing the fact that I am a strange duck...I think about the weirdest things at the weirdest times.  Take this morning for instance. For no conceiveable reason, while still laying in bed, my mind drifted back some 70 years to a point in time when boys wore breeches, otherwise known as knickers or breeks.

Here I am, circa 1942-'43, wearing breeches. 

Talk about child abuse!

I remember breeches as the most uncomfortable and personally detestable form of winter attire ever inflicted on a boy and I cannot believe that they are still included as formal, traditional dress for our Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Generally made of a heavy almost felt-like material or corduroy, they were billowy at the hips and thighs and tapered down to a snug fit right at the knee where they were tightened even further by laces. It was not uncommon to have leather patches sewn on the knees. Tell-tail creases embedded behind my knee and on my upper calf would remain visible many hours after taking the damned things off.

We were even cursed with breeches as a form of Boy Scout winter wear, switching to shorts with the same itchy all-wool, full length socks in the summer. The only good thing about breeches that I can think of was that there was no pant leg to get caught in the sproket and chain when riding a bicycle.

Coarse, knee-high wool socks, sometimes in colorful argyle patterns, completed the every day ensemble.  I'll guarantee that, regardless of some backward and unexpected style shift today, no self-respecting boy would be caught dead dressing like that in  the 21st century.

Surprisingly, from the late 16th century until the early 19th century, most men and boys wore breeches as their lower body garment. Through the centuries breeches were seen in many forms and lengths. In the early 18th century breeches were barely seen beneath long waistcoats and coats. By the mid-18th century they were more noticeable beneath shorter waistcoats and open coats, and so the cut of breeches became tighter and revealed the shape of the leg.

Worn by all levels of society, breeches were made in a great variety of silks, cottons, linens, wools, knits, and leathers. It was the lower classes, peasants, workmen, and sailors that first wore long trousers, and were first derisively called "sans culottes", without short trousers. Boys from affluent families began the transition to long trousers when in the late 18th century they began wearing long trouser skeleton suits. The term breeches coined the term breeching.

Loose fitting calf-length pants were also worn by boys and girls in the 1960s but, again, they were not very popular with boys. The name was derived from the act of clam digging (if you lived in an Atlantics province) or more likely from simply wading along a beech without getting the pant legs wet or dirty. Clam diggers were similar in style to same-vintage pedal pushers and Capri pants.

I admit that this was no doubt much more than you needed to know about breeks, but I'm at least glad that I got them off my mind, or should I say...my backside!

Down with the breeches of my youth, I say!  Give me a good pair of denim jeans any day.

I can always tuck the bottom of the jeans into my socks, when I want to ride a bicycle.

DEAR READERS: MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH THE "JOY" OF CHRISTMAS...!

"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

ST. NICK FOLLOWED THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS, THE GIVER

It is traditional for me to post something related to the "real meaning of Christmas" on this date each year.    The following came to me this morning as part of a subscription to the "Inspiration by God" newsletter and I deemed it most timely and worthy of reproduction on Wrights Lane.   
Many accounts have been written about the life of St. Nicholas, but "worldwide" he is known for his giving... Stories of his unselfish giving have followed him century after century since the 3rd century.

As it turns out - St. Nick was following in someone's footsteps! From the day Jesus was born, His entire life was about giving. He gave up His life, so that we could have eternal life.  He is the Word made into flesh - St. Nicholas knew that and that is why he lived the life he did and why (regardless of how he is portrayed) he followed in Jesus' example and gave wholeheartedly to others.

St. Nicholas was born in Turkey in the third century. Historically, there isn’t a lot of documentation about him (after all he was born in about A.D. 280, but it is very interesting that his story has continued to live on in folklore. It is known that Nicholas was born to a wealthy family and when his parents died (while he was still fairly young) he inherited a considerable amount of money and he didn’t keep any of it. He is known for having given it all to charity.

While he was still a boy, a couple of miracles were attributed to him and later, while a young man, he was chosen by his people to be their Bishop in their small coastal village. It is from that village that the stories of his generosity began.

Many accounts have been written about the life of St. Nicholas, but “worldwide” he is known for his giving! Stories of his kindness have followed him century after century. He is known by a multitude of names in almost every continent (not sure about Antarctica!), and although – through story telling – he has been morphed into a white-bearded man with a jolly belly and a red suit and eight reindeer…St. Nick is still associated with unselfish giving and that is why Christmas is the perfect time of year to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

From the day Jesus was born, His entire life was about giving. He gave up His life, so that we could have eternal life. He was prophesied about for centuries before He was born! He is the Word made into flesh – St. Nicholas knew that and that is why he lived the life he did and why (regardless of how he is portrayed) he followed in Jesus’ example and gave wholeheartedly to others.

So enjoy this time of year – the Christmas Season is surrounded by a wonderment that simply cannot be explained. All over the world people decorate with bright colorful lights and we bring real or artificial trees into our homes just to have a special place for specially wrapped gifts…We sing some of the most beautiful songs that are meant to be sung at only this time of year - beautiful carols honoring the birth of our Savior (yes, there are some wintery, snowy, Santa Clausey songs too). We bake like there is no tomorrow just so we can share the sweets with the sweet people in our lives, but even more than that we also give like there is no tomorrow. Even those who have little to give, find a way to give. And isn’t it wonderful to know that St. Nick was following in our Lord’s footsteps? Jesus truly is the reason for this Blessed Season.

A CHALLENGE: TRANSFORMING CULTURES TO REDUCE CONSUMPTION

The Worldwatch Institute examines how we can, and must, move beyond our current consumer culture to achieve a more sustainable society If all humans consumed as much food and resources as people in the United States do, the Earth could sustain only about a quarter of the current population. Add Canadians to the equation and the Earth could sustain disturbingly less. Humanity as a whole is becoming more wasteful as people across the globe define themselves and their successes by what they own and what they consume. In the Worldwatch Institute's State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible?, contributing authors discuss ways that we can move away from the consumer culture that is undermining the planet we live and depend on. Cultures are constantly evolving, and perhaps one of the biggest cultural transformations was the advent of consumerism not too many generations ago. Erik Assadourian, senior fellow at Worldwatch and co-director of State of the World 2013, highlights the changes that advertising and marketing brought to society. "When first-generation factory workers received raises, they chose to work fewer hours, not buy more stuff," Assadourian says. "Over time, people got used to new products, some of which did indeed improve life quality and many of which were marketed as such by clever entrepreneurs and a new advertising industry. Eventually, we could hardly imagine life without an abundance of products." Yet just as humans became consumers, so can we revamp our behaviors to prevent further damage to the planet. Among the ways that our cultures can be transformed to make consumption patterns more sustainable, Assadourian suggests, are policy changes, such as shifting taxes on unsustainable practices like carbon emissions, plastic bags, and junk food; as well as shifts in infrastructure, such as facilitating car-free lifestyles by building bike lanes and shared bike systems, as many U.S. and European cities have done. Members of organizations, such as churches, schools, and businesses, can promote sustainable living in their communities. And media and entertainment have the potential to change our society by subtly modeling sustainable living with films, stories, and social marketing. Ultimately, we must understand that long-term changes in our communities are not going to be brought about by individual actions alone. Indeed, too much focus on changing individual behavior can inadvertently redirect energy from the cultural, business, and political changes that are necessary. Although corporations have supported some conservation efforts by individuals-sometimes in ways that strategically redirect blame from themselves-the amount of damage done by people and households is only a small fraction of the total waste produced by industries every year. Annie Leonard, co-director of The Story of Stuff Project and contributing author of State of the World 2013, explains the problems that arise when individuals, rather than large-scale waste producers, take blame for the planet's deterioration. "Describing today's environmental problems and solutions as individual issues has a disempowering effect," says Leonard. "Even if we really do decrease our driving, stop littering, and refuse plastic bags, the broader impacts are still negligible. Society-wide, we need to implement new technologies, cultural norms, infrastructure, policies, and laws." Leonard advocates for widespread public action to make sustainable living a way of life, rather than a trend. Millions of people are aware of the climate problems that we face, but the impetus to make the adjustment to sustainable living has yet to be made. The sooner we face the challenges involved with moving toward a sustainable society, the better chance we have to prevent further environmental decay. "The good news is that we have everything we need to make big change in the years ahead," explains Leonard. "We have model policies and laws. We have innovative green technologies to help with the transition. We have an informed and concerned public; millions and millions of people know there is a problem and want a better future. The only thing we are missing is widespread citizen action on the issues we already care about." By implementing new technologies, shifting cultural norms, building a sustainable infrastructure, and creating new policies, people will be able to make the society-wide changes that are imperative to humanity's success. This means getting the public's attention and calling them to action within broader political campaigns that engage people to work together using the full range of tools available to them, including organizing, lobbying, legal actions, economic sanctions, and even imposing civil inconveniences if necessary. Over to you young people of today...The Earth that my generation has taken for granted, is depending on you!

A NEW DICK-THE-BLOGSTER WEB SITE MAKES ITS DEBUT

It has been suggested that approximately 118,000 children were sent to Canada from England, Scotland, Ireland, The Isle of Man and Wales under the Child Immigration scheme from 1863-1939. These boys and girls, ranging in age from toddlers to adolescents, were all unaccompanied by their parents, even though only two percent of them were true orphans. It is a story that has become the shame of  Britain and destination countries like Canada.  It is also a story that involves my late wife's grandmother and her two sisters. 

Check out "Winifred Elizabeth Wood, A British Home Child" http://dicktheblogster1907.blogspot.ca

My daughters Debbie, 8, and Cindy, 5, with their British Home Child
great grandmother Winifred in a photo, circa 1970.

The response to this site has been absolutely overwhelming with more than 770 hits in the first 64 hours of its publication, including acknowledgment from the British Home Children's Advocacy & Research Association.

THE UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF RECONCILLIATION

Sweeping societal issues under the carpet has never once contributed to the resolution of those issues.  For years I have been talking to myself in advocating the need for citizens, and that means all of us, to take ownership of the sins of current and past Canadian generations.  I'm talking specifically about racial discrimination in all its various, ugly forms.  There just seems to be a general reluctance to express sorrow and to deal with the truth in the name of reconciliation.

I've talked about racial discrimination against our Black neighbours in small town Ontario when I was growing up, injustices experienced by Japanese Canadians during World War 11, mistreatment of British Home Children at the turn of the 20th Century and the disgraceful abuse of Canadian Indian children in residential schools over a 100-year period -- all cases where there has been a general hesitance by Canadians to take ownership, let alone acknowledge the wrong-doing of past generations.

There have been times when I was labelled a trouble-maker for stirring up the past in my writings.

Keith Randall is a writer, broadcaster and an elder at the Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal. He lives in Laval.  His personal revelation deserves wider circulation because his thinking at one time was typical, I think, of many Canadians today.  This is what he has to say.

Sometimes the light goes on. It happened one day not long ago while discussing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (a coalition of government and church representatives) hearings in Montreal.

“You know,” I said, “I have Indian friends and I’m pretty sympathetic to the tough times they’re having in some places, but I don’t understand all this guilt about residential schools. It was years ago. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I wasn’t there. What’s this got to do with me?”

“I notice that you stand proud on Remembrance Day,” my friend replied. “You applaud when the vets march by, sometimes with a tear in your eye. You weren’t there for the world wars or Korea, either.”  That’s when the light went on. Residential schools are part of my history, too, along with Vimy Ridge and the Holland liberation. A dark chapter, to be sure, but a thread of my Canadian heritage that I’ve failed to see in our country’s rich tapestry.

Although missionaries had established residential schools for aboriginal children as long ago as 1620, the concept really took hold with Confederation. In the 1876 Indian Act, Ottawa assumed control of aboriginal “governments, economy, religion, land, education, and even their personal lives,” Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners write in their powerful and depressing book "They Came for the Children." John A. Macdonald added to the loose network of church-run off-reserve schools. “When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with his parents,” he said in 1883. “He is simply a savage who can read and write.”

Churches seeking to save souls were eager partners. In 1879 Toronto journalist Nicholas Flood Davin cited two reasons for a formal partnership with them in a report to the federal government. Residential schools, he hoped, would turn children into reliable citizens, their aboriginal faith replaced by a better one — Christianity — and motivated missionaries could be hired more cheaply than qualified teachers.

This was not just a reflection of the Dark Ages of the 19th century; it carried into the “modern” era. In 1920, the Indian Affairs Department’s deputy minister Duncan Campbell Scott wrote that the government would “continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic, and there is no Indian question, and no Indian department.”  One hundred and forty one residential schools have been recognized by the TRC, and others await judicial rulings. In the last decades of the 20th century, government and churches began to recognize both the ineffectiveness and the injustice of a system that had endured for seven generations, robbing 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children of their culture, heritage and families. Untold numbers were mistreated physically, psychologically and sexually, leaving them in a cycle of abuse and addiction. Early research suggests that at least 3,000 lie in unidentified graves near the former schools.

Were there dedicated teachers who worked diligently within a flawed, underfunded system and warned of impending disaster? Of course. Were there aboriginal children who survived unscathed and went on to lives fulfilled? Yes, again. Aren’t there examples of child abuse in other Canadian institutions? Indeed there are, but none within a system under the formal sanction of the government and participating churches.

In 2008, the government and the Roman Catholic, Anglican, United and Presbyterian churches settled the largest Canadian class action suit of its kind, an agreement that created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The TRC is mandated to record the history and impact of residential schools, promote public awareness through national and local events, and to foster sharing and healing between aboriginal peoples and the rest of us.

The fifth of seven major national events was held at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel earlier this year. Highlights included a Sacred Fire in Place du Canada burning throughout the four days, an education day for local students, films, a variety show and a series of often heartbreaking testimonies by residential school survivors either publicly or in confidence before the commissioners and in listening areas established by the churches.

We have recently read startling, depressing and often puzzling headlines about protests and blockades, treaty claims, resources, reserve management and political grandstanding. This TRC event offered us a unique opportunity to begin learning about just one element of the complex maze of issues rooted deep in our past that will play out in our future to a conclusion that’s still very much uncertain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE DROM DICK: Although the subsequent apologies and acknowledgements made by the federal government and churches are important steps forward in the healing process, Aboriginal leaders have said that such gestures are not enough without supportive action. Communities and residential school survivor societies are undertaking healing initiatives, both traditional and non-traditional, and providing opportunities for survivors to talk about their experiences and move forward to heal and to create a positive future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

I still think that similar apologies to our black friends who suffered denial of rights and blatant racial discrimination in the last century are very much in order and long overdue, but that's another story that I will not reserect at this time. Been there and done that!

While we have much in Canada for which to be proud, we also have a lot of unfortunate history to reconcile -- even though we were "not there at the time."  We must never forget that it is OUR history and that it is irresponsible to disassociate ourselves from it, or to conveniently sweep it under the carpet.

It is all about dealing with inequities in life and righting wrongs of the past...And never letting them happen again.

CARS I HAVE OWNED

MY FIRST TWO CARS

Left, 1949 Plymouth 

Right, 1950 Monarch

I was thinking today about all the cars that I have owned since I purchased a 1949 Plymouth Coupe from Spackman Motors in St. Thomas for $450 in 1956. To the best of my recollection I have had 21 cars and one truck in a 58-year period, which I would imagine would be about average for someone in their mid to late 70s today.

Over the years I have owned Plymouth, Monarch, Dodge, Ford, Chevrolet, Buick, Meteor, Pontiac, Chrysler, and Hyundai vehicles.  While I have to dig deep into the memory bank to remember some of the cars, the two that I remember most are the first two on the list -- a black 1949 Plymouth Coupe and a two-tone blue 1950 Monarch, maybe because in a way they are like your first girl friend.  You just always have a soft place in your heart for them.  But for me, those first two cars were unquestionably the most memorable because of the bitter-sweet stories attached to them.

I don't know what ever possessed me, but I found myself in Spackman's used car lot one day in the summer of 1956.  "Hey Dick old buddy," shouted baseball friend and car salesman Al Topping as he emerged from behind a red 1954 Pontiac. "Wanna buy a car?"

"Naw, just looking Al," I responded.  I was 18 years of age and didn't even have a driver's licence for crying out loud.  As a matter of fact, I had never even been behind the wheel of a car let alone drive one.

"Know what? I think we've got just the car for a guy like you," enthused Al as he took my arm and ushered me over to a gleaming black two-door coupe with the driver's side door open and motor running.  "I just had this little Plymouth out for a test drive and it's a beauty.  It was owned previously by a Salvation Army widow in town."  As Al lifted the hood to expose a motor that was completely foreign to me, I kicked one of the front tires because I'd seen others doing it and it seemed the thing to do at a time like this.

"It looks like it's in good shape...How much is it?" I made the mistake of asking.  "We'll work something out for you," Al answered, rather evasively.  "Come on, I'll take you out for a ride before we talk about price."

"Well, I don't have a driver's licence and I don't think I can buy a car without one, can I?" I asked sheepishly with the hope that this would let me off the hook.  "Sure you can, as a matter of fact if you buy this car I'll teach you how to drive," was my persistent friend's quick response.  "Look Dick, because I know you, I think that I can talk my manager into letting you have this car for a steal, maybe around $450."  It just so happened that between playing semi-pro baseball with the St. Thomas Senior Intercounty baseball team and my wages from Jack Fraser Stores ($45.00 a week) that summer, I had saved up almost $500.00, so it wasn't as though the price was out of reach for me.

Long story short,  20 minutes and my signature on a dotted line later, I was the proud owner of my first car and sitting in my landlady's driveway with Al showing me how to manually shift gears and simultaneously engage the clutch with my right foot.  "Think of your gear shift as the letter H.  You have first and second gears, reverse and park with neutral in between," he explained.  "Just keep practicing going forward and backwards in the driveway for a few days and I'll check in with you this weekend to see how you are doing," Al added as he climbed into his smiling sales manager's car as it idled at the curb.

I didn't practice driving much the rest of the day...I just sat there on the front porch very much overwhelmed and trying to replay in my mind what had just transpired.  Long after dark I kept going out to check on the car to see if it was still there and to confirm that it had not been all a dream.

The next evening after supper, I ventured out to do some practice gear shifting in the driveway.  I was excited on one hand, but apprehensive on the other.  After a half dozen trips back and forth, I suddenly felt a sense of false courage and kept going forward out onto Horton Street where I had no choice but to make a right turn.  A few hundred all-too-quick yards and I found myself at the busy intersection of the city's main street.  Again, I turned right on to Talbot Street at the first opportunity, primarily because I was afraid to turn left across two lanes of traffic.  Suddenly I was in a do-or-die situation...I had no choice other than to grit my teeth and keep going.  And keep going I did, five miles out of town, all the way to the village of Talbotville where I was finally able to turn around in the parking lot of the landmark Wayside Inn.

Then it was back to St. Thomas and living the nightmare of six traffic lights on Talbot Street all over again. But a funny thing happened on the way back to good old Horton Street -- I began to feel pretty damn good about my new-found driving ability, to the point that I was actually quite comfortable at the controls of that little Plymouth car that had previously been so intimidating to me.

When I finally arrived home and pulled back into the driveway,  my landlady (Mrs. Reid) was on the front steps literally wringing her hands.  "Dick, for heaven's sake, where have you been?  I've been worried sick ever since I saw you disappear on Talbot Street.  I was expecting to get a call from the police at any minute. Get in the house right now and tell me all about it."  The poor dear lady was like a mother to me and I was at least thankful that I would not be facing the wrath of my real mother on this occassion.

The next day I was so confident (or ignorantly stupid) that I drove back up Talbot Street again to the motor licence bureau (sans licence) where I asked if I might take a driving test.  A very accommodating inspector agreed to take me out for a 10-minute test drive which I subsequently, and surprisingly, passed in spite of the fact that I parked in a no parking zone when we got back to the office.  With no further questions asked, I walked away as a qualified driver, 48 hours after I had purchased my first car.  A miracle?...Maybe so.

Now it was time to face the biggest hurdle of all -- my mother.  That Saturday afternoon I made the 65-mile trip to my home town of Dresden, arriving just in time to pick my mother up at the drug store where she worked at the time. She was so shocked when she saw me that she flatly refused to get in the car.  "You can't drive!...Do you think I've taken leave of my senses...I'm staying on the sidewalk where I know I'm safe," she yelled as she retreated in horror.

She arrived home on foot 10 minutes later and it took me another hour to calm her down and to convince her that I actually could drive and that I had a licence to prove it.  In due course she did eventually get in the car with me, but it took another trip home to Dresden a few weeks later to make that significant breakthrough.

My car salesman friend Al never did show up for a second driving lesson.  Guess he forgot!?

I have another story to tell about that little Plymouth coupe and how I came about my second car, the 1950 Monarch.  But I'll save that for my next post.

FIVE REASONS TO FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

The concept of visualization as a means to attain a desired result first interested me as an over-the-hill athlete and I have spent considerable time studying the technique over the years.  In fact I have written more than a few times about what I first called "stepping outside of yourself", which to me is an extension of visualization.

I have also often used the cautionary expression "Be careful what your wish for (or pray for) because it just might come true."  In other words, make sure that you are prepared to receive the things you wish and pray for because chances are very good that you will receive them.  If you are going to dream about something, and in the process visualize it, make sure that it is something that is in your best interests and has potential to enhance the life you want to live.

Don't fantasize aimlessly...Dare to dream the impossible dream and believe that it will come true.

Natalie Ledwell, co-founder of an interesting visualization tool called Mind Movies, sent me an email the other day that really reinforced what I believe to be true on this subject.  She even gave "Be careful what you wish for..." a slightly different twist.

"I think you should be fearless when it comes to your dreams and wish for things beyond your wildest imagination. Your dreams should awaken your soul and spark a deep passion within you. And when you find a dream that provides a true purpose for your life, it's important that you don't let it just pass you by," she stated.

Natalie offers five reasons to follow your dreams.

1. They make life worth living.  If you love what you're doing, it won't feel like work. Your dreams are the reason to keep going even when life seems hard.

2. You can be an inspiration to others.  If you follow your dreams, you'll inspire others along the way and this will lead to many meaningful relationships and experiences.

3. You'll meet amazing people. When you are motivated and excited about your dreams, you'll meet other high achievers that will continue to support you in everything you do.

4. You'll make yourself proud.  When you go after something you're passionate about, your confidence will skyrocket and you'll be ecstatic that you achieved something you've always wanted to do.

5. You'll achieve amazing joy. Life without purpose can be bland and unsatisfying. When you go after your dreams - you'll notice a positive transformation in your outlook on life.

"Life is short, so why not spend it doing something you love? " adds Natalie.

I find these words of special value for young people starting out in life. How wonderful it is to know that you can have the life you want if you dream about it in the right way and for the right reasons. Now if only I could turn the clock back about 60 years.

Nevertheless, I can still dream...can't I?

We all can!

A LOOK BACK AT "THE PROTESTANT" REFORMATION

I wonder how many people calling themselves Christian today, actually remembered (knew?) that Thursday, October 31, was the 496th anniversary of "The Reformation".

Just for background purposes, the 16th century in Europe was a great century of change on many fronts. The humanists and artists of the Renaissance would help characterize the age as one of individualism and self-creativity. Humanists such as Petrarch helped restore the dignity of mankind while men like Machiavelli injected humanism into politics. When all is said and done, the Renaissance helped to secularize European society. Man was now the creator of his own destiny -- in a word, the Renaissance unleashed the very powerful notion that man makes his own history.

But the 16th century was more than just the story of the Renaissance. The century witnessed the growth of royal power, the appearance of centralized monarchies and the discovery of new lands. During the great age of exploration, massive quantities of gold and silver flood Europe, an event which turned people, especially the British, Dutch, Italians and Germans, money-mad.

Despite these things, and there is more to be considered, especially in the area of literature and the arts, the greatest event of the 16th century -- indeed, the most revolutionary event -- was in fact the Protestant Reformation. It was the Reformation that forced people to make a choice -- to be Catholic or Protestant. This was an important choice, and a choice had to be made. There was no real alternative. In the context of the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, one could live or die based on such a choice.

Martin Luther

The Reformation was a movement begun by Martin Luther (1483-1546) that ended up fragmenting the Christian church. Originally, Luther did not have in mind a move to create his own church. He was a devout priest who wanted to reform the church from within. His famous Ninety-Five Theses, which he nailed upon the door of the Cathedral at Wittenburg, Germany, in 1517, were actually a single argument against the sale of indulgences or pardons (the absolution of sins in return for good works or money).

Luther's arguments against indulgences were only a small part of the complaints that were being levied against the church. Its efforts to maintain papal lands and the propensity to get mixed up in politics on the Italian peninsula had turned the Papacy into a political rather than religious organization. This worldliness was a problem not only in Italy but all over Europe where so many devout people had given large estates to the church. As much as one-third of all cultivated lands was in the hands of the church. The church in many ways was becoming a business, administering its properties rather than pursuing its stated purpose, which was to be the shepherd of souls. Unfortunately, a certain amount of corruption and cynicism had found its way into the church hierarchy.

One of the problems with all of the lands owned by the church was that it brought it in direct conflict with the state. Posts within the church were coveted because they were lucrative positions. Kings wished to make the appointment of bishops in order to reward their followers and have some control of the revenues of the attached lands. Kings also wished to tax the holdings of the church. The Papacy, naturally, was loathe to give up its rights and revenues.

Meanwhile there were religious currents swirling among the people. Erudite and fiery preachers who had problems with the doctrines put forth by the church wanted to go back to a more literal interpretation of the Bible. Esoteric arguments arose over such issues as trans-substantiation and whether priests could marry. People wished to have control of their own destiny, separating their salvation from dependence on what was seen by many as a corrupt church. Martin Luther's posting of the 95 Theses was only the fuse to a powder keg just waiting for a match.

Luther had challenged the income the church received through the sale of indulgences. The doctrine he preached of humans being saved by "faith alone" challenged the role of the clergy as the means of communication between the people and God. The Papacy went after Luther. Many of the German princes, whether from conviction or the desire to get their hands on the accumulated wealth of the church within their regions, decided to support him. When Luther was attacked by the church, certain German nobles insisted that their states had the right to choose a religion. When the Pope denied this right, the German nobles wrote a formal letter of protest. This was how the movement got the name "Protestant". The sheltering of Luther allowed his movement to incubate and grow, and so the Lutheran church was founded, closely allied with particular German states.

After this, Huldreich Zwingli converted much of Switzerland to his Reformed Church. The Calvinists, under a dynamic preacher named John Calvin, later arose in Geneva (which for a time became a theocratic state run largely by Calvin himself). It is interesting to note that the places where the new churches succeeded they also had powerful state support. At the time, state and church were intimately tied together. It was felt that for a state to be powerful the people had to be homogeneous. To allow different belief systems within the state would be divisive and create internal problems. The Calvinist state served as a teaching ground for preachers who would create religions all across northern Europe including John Knox who founded Presbyterianism in Scotland.

We have to ask why something like the Reformation took place when it did. In general, dissatisfaction with the Church could be found at all levels of European society. First, it can be said that many devout Christians were finding the Church's growing emphasis on rituals unhelpful in their quest for personal salvation. Indeed, what we are witnessing is the shift from salvation of whole groups of people, to something more personal and individual. The sacraments had become forms of ritualized behavior that no longer "spoke" to the people of Europe. They had become devoid of meaning. And since more people were congregating in towns and cities, they could observe for themselves and more important, discuss their concerns with others.

Replica of Luther's theses

Second, the papacy had lost much of its spiritual influence over its people because of the increasing tendency toward secularization. In other words, popes and bishops were acting more like kings and princes than they were the spiritual guides of European men and women. And again, because so many people were now crowding into cities, the lavish homes and palaces of the Church were noticed by more and more people from all walks of life. The poor resented the wealth of the papacy and the very rich were jealous of that wealth. At the same time, the popes bought and sold high offices, and also sold indulgences. All of this led to the increasing wealth of the Church -- and this created new paths for abuses of every sort.

Finally, at the local level of the town and village, the abuses continued. Some Church officials held several offices at once and  lived off their income. The clergy had become lax, corrupt and immoral and the people began to take notice that the sacraments were shrouded in complacency and indifference. Something was dreadfully wrong.

These abuses called for two major responses. On the one hand, there was a general tendency toward anti-clericalism, that is, a general but distinct distrust and dislike of the clergy. Some people began to argue that the layperson was just as good as the priest, an argument already advanced by the Waldensians of the 12th century.  On the other hand, there were calls for reform. These two responses created fertile ground for conflict of all kinds, and that conflict would be both personal and social.

The deepest source of conflict was personal and spiritual. The Church had grown more formal in its organization, which is hardly unsurprising since it was now sixteen centuries old. The Church had its own elaborate canon law as well as a dogmatic theology. All of this had been created at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215. That Council also established the importance of the sacraments as well as the role of the priest in administering the sacraments. 1215 also marks the year that the Church further elaborated its position on Purgatory (see Purgatory: Fact or Fantasy). Above all, the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 established the important doctrine that salvation could only be won through good works -- fasting, chastity, abstinence and asceticism.

The common people, meanwhile, sought a more personal, spiritual and immediate kind of religion -- something that would touch them directly, in the heart. The rituals of the Church now meant very little to them -- they needed some kind of guarantee that they were doing the right thing – that they would indeed be saved.

The Church gave little thought to reforming itself. People yearned for something more while the Church seemed to promise less. What seemed to be needed was a general reform of Christianity itself. Only such a major transformation would effect the changes reflected in the spiritual desires of the people.

The goals of the 16th century Reformation reflect the principles that Christian churches continue to advocate and attempt to live out to this day, i.e. to bring into the polity (governance) teaching  and preaching of the church; to bring a sense of vocation (calling) into secular life and to give lay ministry more authority and leadership in order to maintain a balance of power within the church.  Singing as a form of prayer and worship can also be traced to early Reformation.

We who stand in Reformation churches today are survivors. But to continue surviving we need to recover the potential for unity that  has eluded our grasp.  We should therefore long for and pray for, our ability to remember the Reformation – not as a celebratory moment, not as a blow for freedom, but as the sin of the church.

Pray for a healing of our disunity, not the disunity simply between Protestant and Catholic, but the disunity in our midst between classes, between  races, between nations. We should be asking our Heavenly creator to make us a new people joined together in one mighty prayer that the world may be saved from its divisions.

Could it be that we need another world church reformation?...A reformation that allows our rather insular and stand-pat churches to catch up with a society that has constantly changed from generation to generation over the course of  the last four centuries.