Racer Pen

I am a notororious clutterbug, and with an impending remote ergonomic assessment coming tomorrow (in anticipation of perhap getting a sit/stand workstation), I was finally galvanized to clean up my desk area. 

In the course of doing so I came across many interesting tidbitrs and ephemera, including this pen, which had accompanied me to the office and returned home with me in 2020.

To be quite honest, it is not wholly satisfying as either a toy car or a working pen. The wheels are now a bit sticky, but were always too smooth to grip most workplace surfaces. The ballpoint pen itself is only fair to middling and it is difficult to grip properly due to both size and protuberances.

But I am still hanging onto it for - you guessed it - sentimental reasons.

When Fenya's class (I want to say this would have been 2nd grade?) went to visit the Reynolds-Alberta Museum, she asked to bring along some of her own money. Being a big fan of museum gift shops myself, I was happy to agree, but I silently wondered how much of it would go to candy.

Imagine my surprise when she came back with gifts for the three of us; I remember someone else getting car-shaped chocolates, but I am not sure what the third item was, and I believe she did procure some swets for herself.

I was legitimately touched though, because I was pretty sure that 2nd grade Stephen would not have been so thoughtful, and so delighted that Fenya had been so gracious and thoughtful.

There is also a nostalgia component, as the vehicle design reminds me just a little of the one-time land speed record holder, the Blue Flame, the first real-world named car I ever recognized, courtesy of a book about vehicles in my own second grade classroom at Willow Park Elementary in Leduc.

So until the ink runs out, the racer pen will stay on my desk, along with other assorted tchotchkes and knickknackery.

...even if it occasionally rolls out of sight.

Pulpitations: An Age for All Times

I only preached once in 2024, and it was on the last Sunday of the year. I had lots of warning and time to prepare, and as I was doing so, I asked Glory if she would come to hear me. 

"Probably," she said, "what are you preaching on?"

"Second chapter of Luke," I replied, "where 12-year-old Jesus wanders off for the better part of a week and they find him talking with the scholars in a temple."

She narrowed her eyes and said, "That sounds kind of familiar; did you preach on that once before?"

So I checked, and sure enough, I had... 5 years earlier.

"Hmm," I said to my daughter. "I guess I need a new angle."

It took me a while to come up with that alternate angle, and I was mostly happy with it, but not really sure how my sermon would land with people. (Clicking the title below should take you to that part of our recorded service.)

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REFLECTION: AN AGE FOR ALL TIMES

And so we prepare to draw the curtain on 2024. A new year is right around the corner, and while it is full of uncertainty, remember - it wasn’t all that different last year. Or the year before!

There is no questioning that the world could be in better shape, right? War still rages in Ukraine and Gaza, there’s a trade war brewing with our closest neighbour, inequity and anger seem to grow daily, I am certain there is another smoky dry summer coming our way…

I’m gonna level with you - I am indulging myself in a lot of what some folks would consider age-inappropriate behaviours of late: reading superhero comics, playing Dungeons & Dragons, enjoying videogames… Midnight Suns lets me combine all three, in a way, so it is a wonder I even made it to church today, to be honest. Escapism has become my primary preoccupation the past few months.

“But Stephen!” I hear you say, “haven’t you always done that kind of stuff?” And you’re right; I totally have!

But when I did it before, it felt like a pastime - now it feels…therapeutic.

Years ago, I worked with a fellow who told me something so sublime when we were talking about a similar topic, it has stuck with me nearly four decades later. Gaston was his name, and we worked at the airport together as pre-board screening officers. This was at a time when the gates at Edmonton International Airport would close periodically between flights (if you can imagine!), and you would have some time to while away playing cards or just chatting in the office.

We were discussing something about childish things, and Gaston shook his head and said, “Most people have maturity all wrong; maturity doesn’t mean acting like an adult, it’s knowing when it is appropriate to act like a child."

This profound principle of ‘contextual maturity’ really, really stuck with me, a fact which I am confident comes as no surprise whatsoever to many of you in attendance, or watching at home. And yes, Howard, I am thinking of you specifically! And hi, Joan.

Finding time for those other aspects of yourself is a tremendous benefit for your mental health.

And so, yeah, my interest in comic books featuring tights 'n' fights waxes and wanes like the moon, but I have always gone back, and now that I do it from a subscription on my iPad it is unlikely to ever stop. If you like hunting and fishing, good on ya, but getting together with my friends or family in a pretend dungeon with make-believe monsters to roll a few dice and have a few laughs - just like we did in junior high - is my idea of a great time. Heck, I got to do it in-person four different times this December!

But maybe that’s not your thing, and that’s okay. Maybe it’s collecting dolls or action figures, or scouring used bookstores for that out-of-print classic you got at book club and can’t find any more. Or maybe it is something even simpler…

Every time you laugh, an earnest, joyful laugh, that is probably your inner child expressing itself. Even when it is the driest, most erudite or even political humor, there is a snort coming from your inner schoolkid.

And you should keep in touch with that inner kid, because they understand a lot of stuff that us adults tend to forget. I’m willing to bet the last time you actively looked for a four-leaf clover, the grass wasn’t nearly as far away as it seems now!

My point is, we can relate to the holy in a multitude of ways. Very commonly, when we approach God the creator we do so as children, as supplicants. But there have been times in prayer where I have spoken to Jesus in my heart as a brother, someone else who’s been a kid.

And like I told the younger folk earlier, I firmly believe everyone has some of that holy spirit in them; in some folks it’s a candle, and others it’s a bonfire, but for some people it is a single spark that struggles - not to stay alive, in my mind but a struggle to be seen. The spark is God’s, but we can create a space and oxygen and fuel for it - nurturing it, as it were.

In our Gospel story, I continue to be amazed at how chill everyone is when Mary and Joseph find their child in a temple who has been missing for three whole days. I mean, okay, Jesus, sure, he gets a weird kind of pass because he is part of the Infinite Divine that we can’t possibly understand AND also is a kid, but the teachers? Maybe there wasn’t enough space to write, “And one of those present said unto Jesus, ‘truly, this is not cool - thou art twelve’...”, but most likely Luke was trying to keep the emphasis on the startling response of Jesus to his parents.

When Jesus replies to Mary, expressing surprise at her concern, does he sound more like a child, or a parent? How much of what he is saying, this calm reassurance, is God the parent speaking through him?

I hear Jesus the child in his incredulity, his bewilderment that his mother and father didn’t automatically think to look for him in the temple. Again, this contextual maturity, this dynamic relationship that feels so relatable to me.

Likewise the teachers, spellbound by a child’s understanding and wisdom; is the connection between them strictly cerebral, or is this bridge between them a product of the holy spirit? Like the bridge to the Hebrew scriptures that verse 52 gives us: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years[l] and in divine and human favor.” If you go back to the first book of Samuel, another special youth, verse 26 of chapter 2 tells us that “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.”

These relationships, these bona fides, the callbacks and prophecy - what we might call ‘foreshadowing’ in fiction - they help us to shift our perspective and find different ways to approach this spiritual knowledge that we don’t just know, we feel.

Our adult selves give us the maturity and insight we need to understand in our heads, but our inner children let us experience God with our hearts. This notion of contextual maturity is not just good for our mental health, but for our relationship with the divine.

And when you experience that fully, it becomes easier to be grateful, and to offer praise in gratitude, in spite of the current challenges and contexts!

Once again, we can take our cues from the young dolls in our lives here, because when it comes to praise, it is difficult to equal the honesty, enthusiasm and energy of children.

The first four lines of today’s psalm end in exclamation points - how’s that for enthusiasm? And there is no room for spectators; everyone is encouraged to participate:

Praise God from the earth, great sea creatures and ocean depths,
lightning and hail, snow and frost, gales that obey God’s decree,
all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars,
wild animals and cattle, creatures winged and earth-bound
sovereigns who rule earth and its people,
all who govern and judge the world,
young men and women alike, old people and children together!

As we close the door on 2024, the new year either looms or beacons, depending on your perspective. There are probably some adversarial ties ahead for our neighbours to the south, but don’t feel too smug about it, because an election is headed our way too, maybe sooner than some people want!

I still have a few more days at home before I return to work, and I am giving my inner child as much room to play as I can. My family is around and there are games to play, meals to share, and company to enjoy. Soon enough it will be time to shoulder the responsibility of adulthood again, and that’s okay too. In addition to nurturing my own holy spirit, maybe I will have the privilege of helping someone else re-discover their own?

God exists within each one of us and we can relate to the Holy from an endless variety of perspectives, including child, peer and adult. Being infinite, this is easier for God than it is for us sometimes, but it is worth the effort.

Talk to parent God about your most complex thoughts. Share your innermost feelings with your sibling, Jesus. And never forget that spark of the divine that is all God and yet uniquely yours, the Holy Spirit.

Leave room in your life for contextual immaturity, especially in your relationship with the holy. Let that Spirit remind you to experience joy, to savour simple pleasures and to express gratitude and praise earnestly and enthusiastically!

Let the whole creation cry,
“Glory be to God on high”

Amen

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After the service, an unfamiliar gentleman introduced himself to me and asked what I did for a living. When I told him I work In pensions administration, he smiled and shook his head. "I would have bet money that you had some sort of theological background," he said.

"Gosh, no," I confessed, "I like to read and I like to ask questions, and we had a tremendous lay worship leadership training program here a few ministers ago we've tried to keep going. Rev. James and Rev. Mervin outlined a ton of resources like The Text This Week and I try to get a few other perspectives or insights before traipsing off on my own, but no formal training. I'm flattered you thought so, though!"

"Listen," he said, "I preached 28 years in the same church and I have heard and read a lot sermons in my time, and that is one of the most interesting takes on Luke 2:41 I've ever heard."

Well!

Let me tell you, I am grateful when anyone at all tells me they found something useful in one of my reflections, but a genuine compliment from a professional preacher that I don't even know was not something I was prepared for.  

I thanked him profusely and told him I hoped to see him back at some point; it never occurred to me to ask if he was visiting or to get his name or anything. When I told Audrey what he had said to me as we drove home and how gratifying it was, she positively beamed at me, which felt pretty good as well.

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Luke 2:41–52 (Lexham English Bible): Jesus in the Temple at Twelve Years Old

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast. And after the days were completed, while they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents did not know it, but believing him to be in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. And they began searching for him among their relatives and their acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

And it happened that after three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting in the midst of the teachers and listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his insight and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astounded and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have been searching for you anxiously!” And he said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that it was necessary for me to be in the house of my Father?” And they did not understand the statement that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submitting to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart.

And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and with people.

Psalm 148 (Responsive)

Refrain

Let the whole creation cry,

“Glory be to God on high”

Praise God from the heavens; give praise in the heights!

Give Praise, all you angels; praise God, all you hosts!

Praise God, sun and moon; give praise, stars and lights!

Praise God, farthest heavens, and all waters beyond heaven!  R

Let all things praise the Holy One at whose command they were created, who established them for all time, setting bounds, which cannot be passed.

Praise God from the earth, great sea creatures and ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and frost, gales that obey God’s decree,

all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars,

wild animals and cattle, creatures winged and earth-bound

sovereigns who rule earth and its people,

all who govern and judge the world,

young men and women alike, old people and children together! R

Let all things praise the name of God,

the name above every other, whose splendour covers heaven and earth.

You give strength to your people,

songs of praise to your faithful,

to Israel, the people dear to your heart.  R

More Calling Nerds - Xmas 2025

 We did all the wonderfully mundane things a family is expected to do at Christmas - we opened our gifts and stockings as a group:

...we enjoyed a massive dinner together on Christmas day:

 ...and in fact, we are still enjoying the leftovers from what I called Merry Briskmas four days later (even better than turkey!):

... and maybe overdid it a little on the potatoes:

Photo, caption and potatoes: G. F.

We drank a significant number of Tom & Jerrys too, both here and at Auntie Betty's.

And I feel we earned all those indulgences fivefold (at least) since there was a non-zero chance of Fenya or Bobby being stranded in Toronto.

Oh why? Because there was no one available to look after their dog Skye, who has anxiety issues and cannot be left alone, and you are not permitted to check animals at this time of year because the baggage area is not heated. 

They got the largest under-seat kennel they could find and Skye (who could quite possibly be passed off as a large stoat) could turn around in it easily enough, but not fully stand up, as is required. They reconnoitered Pearson Airport the night before their flight and were told by the gate manager that he would allow it, but at the end of the day, it is the agents at check-in and the gate who would make the call, and can indeed turn a person away.

Which means if that individual is having a bad day, it is highly likely that you are going to have a bad day.

When the lady at check in said to Skye, "oh, you poor crushed thing," there were a fair number of dismayed expressions passing between my daughter and her husband. Without prompting, the dog demonstrated her ability to turn around within the carrier, and after some consideration, the agent begrudgingly allowed them to proceed. But not before needlessly reminding them that they could still be turned away at the gate.

So they kept their distance from the other passengers and vluntarily checked a carry-on when the agents asked for volunteers. This was in hopes of ingratiating themselves, but it also allowed them to board earlier than expected, and perhaps because the flight was so busy, nothing at all was said as they boarded and stuffed Skye's carrier beneath the seat in front of them. Of course, no real relief was had until they pushed away from the gate - unless you count the dog relieving herself in the carrier while perched on Bobby's lap and saturating the both of them.

Regardless, though, we were so grateful to have them both with us (Bobby had planned to stay in TO with Skye if it had come to that) that an unscheduled dog bath and shower for my son-in-law felt like a small price to pay.

The nerdiness truly began when they (all three, actually) were both able to join us in Rocky Mountain House where the three cousins played a Christmas D&D one-shot with my nephew Mark using some old characters of theirs. It is a dandy called "In the Black Midwinter" and features a ton of goofy references as well as a showdown with both the Krampus and Jülbocken!

But it really peaked for me when we arranged to play a session of our ongoing family campaign (or "fampaign", if you will) two nights ago with all eight players in a chapter-concluding boss fight!

Family time is obivously pretty crucial to me at Christmas, but playing D&D, in person, with my wife, two daughters, son-in-law, my wife's son as well as his own wife, sister and sister's fiance? From a scheduling perspective alone this was truly a mighty undertaking, and I am amazed and grateful we could pull it off!

We play the fampaign online around twice a month on average, across three (sometimes four!) timezones, but being together in the same kitchen for dinner and same basement for snacks and clickety clack math rocks and laughs was simply the best. We laughed more often and harder than we ever do over Google Meet, especially after I gave players the option of eating a random pull from the Jelly Belly "Fiery Five" collection to earn a re-roll. 

Two players drew the dreaded Carolina Reaper, which was almost debilitating. Poor Glory drew a habanero (the second hottest) to save her clerid Anja Stormdottir after rolling a 1 on her Death Save - only to have the reroll turn up as a 1 as well! 

Eherleschkeit kommt wieder I suppose...luckily the other cleric, Armida Plum, correctly assessed the seriousness of the mission and had thoughtfully prepared a Revivify spell which got her back on her feet.

At any rate, it was a tough battle that took several hours to play through and weapped up a little after one in the morning, but with no player casualties, and a lot of fun.

Sure, I also got a tremendous assortment of nerdy gifts, but the peak Christmas moment for me was playing a game I have loved for most of my life with people I love, at a time of year that our four households love.

Super, Man - Best Teaser Ever?

So let me explain why this Beaverton article totally applies to me and I don’t even care.

First off, if you haven’t seen it, you need to see the teaser trailer for James Gunn’s Superman movie, due in theatres this July.

All right? So you watched it and you’re good?

No, don’t read this and then watch it, the rest of the post explicitly references it! Spoilers abound, man.

So if you’ve actually watched it, we can proceed.

All right, to begin with, the first superhero movie I ever saw in a theater was Richard Donner’s Superman, starring Christopher Reeve. I had read a few Superman comics by this point, but that brilliant portrayal cemented itself in my mind forever. The electrified homage to John Williams’ epic score is a pretty good way to get me sentimentalized.

Making the first image of Superman a vulnerable one, battered and bleeding, is a real counterpoint to more recent depictions of this character, which I thought was a bold choice in some ways. In some ways, not so much; it’s not like people watching this are going ‘who is this guy in the tights?’, so this is a great way to establish the level of threat he must be facing.

And then the close up, and seeing that the Last Son of Krypton bleeds red blood, just like us.

When he starts to whistle, it took me a split second to key in to what he must be doing, so I was expecting Krypto the Super Dog, but not for him to show up and have Kal-El desperately ask him to take him home. So when this goodest boy just grabs the cape in his mouth and does it, I honestly started to well up and I don’t care who knows it.

But the biggest thing for me was that the first bit of superhero action we see is not an enormous punch, or an astounding feat of strength, but someone being saved as Superman places his body between an innocent person and disastrous harm.

Because this is what sets him and Spider-Man apart from most of the other comic heroes; if there was no crime, they would still spend their days saving people.

The rest of the teaser races by, and each rewatch rewards me with another tidbit or Easter egg: Hawkgirl! Mr. Terrific! Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner! Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor!

And though out the entire teaser, I didn’t see the title character punch a single other character. there is some wrestling, sure, and his state at the beginning suggests a significant physical alteration is indeed in store for him.

The flag being raised, the chanting of his name rising in volume near the end, and other scenes all give a palpable sense of decency and hope, which suits me right down for the ground,

That optimism doesn’t make everyone happy, unsurprisingly, but even that response just reinforces for me that James Gunn is going about this in precisely the right way.

I mean, there are still plenty of ways to screw this up, but solid comics trilogies are few and far between (Chris Nolan’s Batman and Captain America come to mind, and few others), and since Guardians of the Galaxy is in that club, James Gunn can count on my ticket purchase on opening weekend in July.

And yes, I will bring some tissues. Wanna make something out of it?

Can You Handel This? (Our First Time at The Messiah)

As the holiday season shifts into a higher gear, this weekend featured multiple excellent visits with dear friends and family, but we kicked it off with an elegant night out.

Yet another friend was able to gift us tickets to Handel's Messiah at my favourite music Venue, The Winspear, but we decided to extend the experience by dining out at Continental Treat Bistro.

I love my family and appreciate children, and enjoy a fun casual night out where the food is good, but I can't remember the last time we dressed up for dinner in an almost child-free space. The bistro is on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 97th street (where Hardware Grill used to be) but the flagship location has been on Whyte Ave since 1982. 

In addition to a diverse menu featuring a lot of German and Czech dishes, they also have a creative cocktail menu and stellar beer list (including Westvleteren XII, 'the world's rarest beer'!). Our server was wonderful and we enjoyed escargots, a shrimp salad and rouladen for dinner, and added tiramisu, streudel and a maple whiskey coffee simply because it was too early to walk to the venue.

A jazz trio serenaded us and it was only afterwards that we realized the entire menu is gluten-free; we will have to come back and try their schnitzel, which they claim is best in the city...

After a short walk to the Winspear, we picked up our tix from the box office, checked our coats and made our way to the third floor gallery. I maintain that there are no bad seats in this place, and even two rows back on the highest level, we could still see and hear everything clearly.

'Everything' in this case includes a 27-piece orchestra, The Richard Eaton Singers (a 90+ voice choir), 4 vocal soloists and the enormous Davis Concert Organ.

Now, like most people, I am familiar enough with the famous Hallelujah chorus from The Messiah, and recognized another piece from Audrey's extensive collection of Christmas music, but neither of us had ever heard it all the way through before, and it is spectacular.

I wish I had thought to bring a libretto or whatever you call the lyrics and liner notes for an oratorio because despite being sung in English, I could discern very little, but can tell you it all sounded marvelous. Handel was born in Germany but composed the Messiah 15 years after becoming a naturalized British citizen, but I honestly thought I had heard at least two other languages on Friday night.

My lack of understanding did nothing to hamper my appreciation though; just watching the conductor weave together so much instrumentation and so many voices was completely spellbinding to me as a layman, and the beauty of the performance spoke for itself.

I don't know that I would go every year, as I know some people do, but I am confident we will return!

The Paper Telly

A couple of weekends ago I finally decluttered and dusted the top of the hutch over the liquor cabinet. Most of the items on top of it needed cleaning, the space itself required rearranging and some items, well, it was just time for them to go.

I finally parted with the bottle that contained 40-year-old port that my dear friends gifted me back when I turned 40. I decanted the bottle caps that had been accumulating in the pewter mug Dad got as a member of the CFB Gimli "Corporal's Club." And I realized that a paper keepsake had become too dusty to clean or salvage, and needed to be recycled.

It was a tiny paper replica of a television Fenya had made when she was eight or nine years old. The 5" screen depicted a hockey game in a packed arena, with the words "Go Lemons Go!" displayed on one of the concourses, presumably referring to the team in yellow. Such was the attention to detail that the set even has a triangular antenna affixed to the top of it, something I don't think Fenya had ever seen in real life.

I don't remember the circumstances clearly, but she had made it for me out of scrap paper with tape and crayons when I worked at GE Money. It was not a job I relished going to, and I think she made it to cheer me up, which it did.

The paper tv had a prominent spot on my desk until I left the job about a year and a half after starting (to take a position where still I work today). I didn't have the heart to simply 86 it at the time, so atop the hutch it went. 

When I took it down, some of the structural integrity of the cube was lost due to the adhesive on the tape drying out over a decade and half. It was tragically dusty and unlikely to survive a cleaning, and I admitted it was time to say goodbye to this keepsake - but not before doing three things.

First I took a picture of it, no longer trusting my memory to maintain such things.

Next I called Fenya, and sent her the picture. I related the story as I remembered it, and she corroborated parts of it, not remembering many more details than I. I told her how happy the little tv had made me at work, the whimsy it would provoke when my glance fell upon it, the gratitude for having such a creative and thoughtful child (two of them, in fact). It got a little misty.

Lastly, I vowed to write about it here, to affix it a little more firmly in my memory, and give me a place to re-visit it periodically.

Surreal Estate - Re-watching "The Wizard of Oz"

"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again." -  Rick Polito's summary of The Wizard of Oz for the Marin Independent Journal

I had no interest in joining Audrey and Glory at Wicked last week, but was only too happy to watch The Wizard of Oz with them tonight, and I am glad I did.

There are those (including the American Library of Congress) who feel it may be the most "seen" movie of all time, what with the decades of holiday season television screenings piled on top of all the VHS/DVD/BluRay/4K/ad infinitum home releases.

It has to be over a decade since I last watched it, and with younger kids I around, I was probably doing something else at the same time, or leaving to pop corn or some such. Sitting down and soaking in it as an adult and a movie buff is a genuine treat. 

First, it is a well crafted adventure musical, that clips along at a ridiculous pace like any fairy story should and veers effortlessly from silly to sweet to genuinely terrifying without missing a beat. And if it comes off as excessively coy or genteel, well, it is a prodcut of its time, after all.

But before the majority of North Americans had ever heard of Gandalf the Grey of Middle Earth, this adaptation of L. Frank Baum's book was pop culture's very first iteration of a fantasy realm with borders, factions, wondrous creatures, inscrutable and powerful rulers and an epic quest.

From the moment Dorothy opens the door to Munchkinland, exposing everyone to the Technicolor brilliance of Oz, I kept thinking of just how mind-blowing this must have been to those initial audiences in the 1940s. How many midwesterners quailed sympathetically at the sight of the Kansas cyclone? Who in the audience gasped, like I did tonight, and the amazing entrance of the Wicked Witch of the West in a plume of flame and densely coloured smoke? 

The costumes and makeup of the Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion (whose outfit weighted 90 lbs!) hold up tremendously well even in high definition. The production numbers, particularly in Munchkinland, are intricate and enormous. When they say, "they don't make 'em like they used to," I am starting to think they are talking about The Wizard of Oz.

If you are looking for a family movie to screen over the holidays this year, don't pass up an opportunity to show this 85-year-old marvel to new eyes. It is available with a Crave subscription and reantable on many digital platforms (but not Cineplex unless you havce a 4K tv, grr...).