Picture in the Paper
An important part of the engagement process, is the public announcement, and in smaller towns, that means putting your picture in the paper. There are of course wedding and engagement announcements in big city newspapers as well, but they play as pivotal a role as the small town papers. When I go home for a weekend or even visit for an evening, I'll try to look through the most recent paper and see if any of my friends have married off. I wanted to announce my engagement as widely as possible, and the best way to hit as many casual acquaintances at once is with a picture in the paper. The pictures are always at the end of the paper too, so that when you're done catching up on the local news, you can ask everyone around you who the people are because their names sound familiar and are they related to so-and-so. Good times. The significance was brought to mind again when people starting telling us, "you've gotta go through with it, it was in the paper."

Seeing my picture in the paper also put me in a bit of a high school reunion type of mentality. Based on the picture and the write-up, what will people say after not having seen me in close to ten years? Assuming people my age still read the local paper or at least have this kind of announcement passed on to them, I think it would be interesting to see what kind of comments people would make. I know some would say, "Wow, he's doing pretty well for himself!" or "Wow, look at her! He's marrying pretty well." I mean, come on, look at her!

I hope that people will say, "He's aging well", "He looks really happy", or "I'd like to get ahold of him again." I am more afraid however that people will say other things:
"He's a pastor?!?" - Some people will be surprised because I was such a high achiever in math etc. in high school which would lead me down a different and more lucrative career path. Some people would not be surprised, as I was part of the evangelical Christian social circle in high school. This leads me to my frustrations about the pastoral identity. Everything I say and do is filtered through my title. I am avoided and my opinions dismissed because people presuppose what I will say based on my profession. Which other careers get the same stigma?
"They have a website? How cliche/geeky!" - We aren't the first couple to make a wedding website, so perhaps some of the coolness of that has passed, and it won't be the prettiest or most technologically advanced website, but it's fun for us to do and it's a great tool to keep people informed. With my mathy background though, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I'm prone to geeky behaviour.
"I guess he's not a good Mennonite after all" - It seems to me that every Mennonite community has their own idea of what a Mennonite is. Fretz is not a common Mennonite name back home, so people might wonder why I didn't marry a Mennonite girl like all the other good Mennonites do. True, I'm not marrying a dietsche mijal but her Mennonite convictions are as strong and stronger than most girls I grew up with, so I'm not at all worried. I'm slowly teaching her Low German now too.
"It's about time!" - Most folk back home marry a little younger than is the custom in the big city. After about 25, people start to worry if you'll get married at all. It's a few years late, but my relatives can breath easy now. I'm still marrying well younger than the national average.

   [ posted by William @ 1:38 PM ]

Staring at the walls vs. blogging

I find myself low of energy and low in motivation these days. I went to work yesterday and found myself taking a break every 5 or 10 minutes. Whether it is out of boredom, or exhaustion, I don't know. Since yesterday I feel I don't know what to do with myself. Half my stuff is somewhere else, and I'm in limbo waiting for my friend to call to tell me if she can take my cats, which is determining when I can move out of here and to my dad's place. Oh well. The joys of moving.

I wanted to share a fun "cultural" experience I had two weeks ago with Will and some of his family members. We went to the Aylmer fair, where Will and I explored the various farm contests, such as "largest sunflower"(8 ft tall!!...or was it 9 ft?), the finest tobacco, the prettiest bouquets, the best chickens, etc. I went on the ferris wheel with Will and his brother Eric (it was both their first time on a ferris wheel), and that was all we were willing to spend our money on, except for food, of course.

The main attraction of the evening was the "Demolition Derby". I was both fascinated and amused by this event. So....people supe (sp?) up their trashy cars, spend hours painting it, fixing it, babying it, preparing it.....to be smashed! And people watch this and cheer and scream and wave signs saying "SMASH EM'!" I found myself getting a kick out of seeing a car get sandwiched betweem two others (as long as the driver was okay). I would often wait to see if the driver was still okay until I cheered, but I still felt a little strange through it all. Is this the kind of thing kids should watch? People would gather and save seats for at least a half an hour before hand to see such an event. Was this some sort of carthartic release for people? Or maybe a way of taking a morbid curiousity and making it "safe", making it "viewer friendly", as we all know people like to see as much as they can of road accidents. It was strangly amusing, too, seeing a car with a bumper hanging on by a thread, bouncing when reversing over the bumper, or seeing a now trunkless car perservering, despite the smoke emanating from somewhere inside the vehicle, or of course the two cars who insist on circling after each other around the pile of smashed smoking cars, who keep *just barely* missing each other for the anticipated final crunch. It felt strange enjoying such a sight. Perhaps it was feeding a human curiousity to see such carefully crafted pieces of human made machinery be smashed to smitherines. All I know is I had fun.

Well, this has certainly been more enjoyable than staring at the walls. But, duty calls and I must go to work.

   [ posted by Anabee @ 9:54 AM ]

Another Ana-rific update

Well, I've fallen into the blog abyss yet again, but I have floundered my way to the surface.

1. Wedding planning

Of course, I have to talk about the wedding plans first. Things are going very smoothly, relatively speaking, and things are falling into place. Will and I have a pastor to counsel and marry us, a church to be married in and a church to hold the reception, we have our outfits as well as the "wedding party", we have our wedding rings, most of the invitations out, and the plans for the wedding banners, reception and honeymoon are underway. Phew! We are both very excited.

2. Week at the cottage

Will and I were fortunate enough to get a week away from it all, and we went up to my beloved family cottage near Bancroft, called Bulpit Lake. We met up with my sister, her husband and daughter Clara (9 months) and had a blast! We made it up to 'Ol' Baldy', my favorite viewpoint, we went swimming, canoed every day, had a camp fire, laid in the sun, and ate lots of good food. We managed to convince my brother and his girlfriend to come from Montreal for a few days, so that was awesome! We all got to meet her and see him before they fly off to Korea to teach English.

Everytime I go up there I am struck with wonder and awe of the beauty of that place, the serenity of a small lake that gives the illusion of isolation, when in reality it is close to a high way and along a flight path. ON THAT NOTE, the coolest thing happened when Will, my sister and I were lazing on the dock. An old bomber flew overhead, just INCHES above the trees, and we could do nothing by gawk at the thunderous metal bird shooting by.

We were serenaded by the loons everyday, and Will and I saw 3 loons all at once, one day, and heard noises that would indicate a territorial fight between them. We also conquered a large tree branch that had fallen, likely from a lightning bolt, and landed upside, jutted into the ground. With a lone axe and 2 rusty saws, we hacked and sawed, until the thing fell over in our direction, and we ran out of the way screaming and flailing (okay, we weren't screaming and flailing, but that just seemed to finish the sentence nicely). It was funny. We proudly brought the firewood up to the cabin.

We look forward to many more vacations there.

3. Family Reunion

The day after we got back, we made it to a Fretz/Snyder reunion (my dad's side), where we were immediately whisked away upon arrival by my uncle Marv, when he proudly took us on a tour of their gardens on their Kubota. My aunt and uncle own a flower business, revealed magnificently in rows and rows of impressive landscape architecture, fit for any contest. He also pointed out their outhouse, surely the first outhouse equipped with internet. We had fun catching up with relatives, playing with the 13 kittens, and gazing at the remains of the tornado touchdown.

4. Missing Cat

On a sadder note, my cat Frodo went missing this morning. This may not sound too much of a concern, except that every morning for the 3 years I've had him, he has been waiting by the door to be let in for breakfast. Not this morning. He hasn't shown up all day, even when I wandered around the co-op calling his name. For a fat cat who loves to eat, this is unusual (unless he landed himself a coon or a duck or something. Here's hoping.

5. Moving

Well, Septembers around the corner, which means new people are going to be moving in to my place which means I'll be moving out. This whole week has consisted of packing, taking things to Tavistock and packing some more. Yesterday my room mates moved their things into my old room (the biggest one), and I moved the remainder of my things to another room. I'll be staying here until the end of the week, when I will move in to my dad's place, where I will stay until the wedding. Things have become a little crazy around here, and we are all overwhelmed. I know I don't usually do well with transitions, but I'm trying to just focus on each day. That seems to be working. Will and my friend Say have been wonderful at helping me move from A to B....and soon there will be C (refer to section 6)

6. Apartment Hunting

Will and I are in the midst of looking for an apartment in Tavi, but no luck yet. I'm hoping we find something sooner rather than later, because I need a place to move my piano to before too long. I'm willing to take anything at this point, as long as the rent is reasonable, there are windows, and there is a place for a garden. Any leads, let us know. -- big hopeful grin -- .

7. Musical

The musical has been greatly neglected (understandably), but we do have 4 scenes finished, and Will is in the process of writing the 5th scene, as well as an introductory scene. We are very excited about working on it full time after we're married, and getting it performed. Any leads on theaters, actors/singers, musicians, stage managers, etc. let us know .

That is all for now. Sorry for the blandness of this entry (ie. no theological questions, life speculations, mesmerizing metaphors or social-nuance-bashing), but with the hurricane of busyness, nothing in my life seems bland right now. Only crazy.

   [ posted by Anabee @ 6:39 PM ]

Writing, A Perplexing Endeavour.
Writing is not something I do phenomenally well, or so my high school marks would indicate. My newest writing project often looks more like a research project than any form of art. In fact, it would be easier to write lyrics and dialogue if all I needed to do was regurgitate facts. If being entertaining was all that was necessary, the process would be different as well. Also, writing stuff that's sole purpose is to be feasible on stage allows freedoms that I don't have. However, writing text that is historically accurate, aesthetically pleasing and dramatically plausible is like waiting for three spirits to simultaneously inspire you.

One piece of information that I think is pivotal to understanding 16th century Reformation and Radical Reformation (including the Anabaptists) thinkers is their apocalyptic expectation, so I think it would make a good setting for an introductory scene.

The opening to Revelation 5, where the four horsemen of the apocalypse are introduced coincides very easily with a summary of events in Europe around that time. End times theology also generally includes an element of preparatory spiritual cleansing, thus further adding to the impetus to change.

With little effort, that "historical accuracy" can be written and told in such a way that stimulates the mind of the audience, but to make it work on stage is a whole separate battle. Getting real horses would not be an option, even if I could find a pale green horse of death. To change it so it works better on stage almost requires to change the "historical accuracy". It's a complicated dance.

In this rambling, I'm not so much soliciting ideas as trying to invoke these three spirits.

   [ posted by William @ 9:14 PM ]

Planes, Strains and Automobiles
You know when you hear a great joke and you think about how you can incorporate it into your "routine"? Unfortunately, that happens to me a lot. Any of you who enjoyed the movie "Three Amigos" will know the reference I used.

Visiting a friend in Toronto yesterday, I saw a plane flying overhead close enough that I could read the FedEx logo on its side. Knowing the nature of their business, I pointed and said, "Hey look. It's a mail plane!" They looked and to my delight, one asked, "How can you tell?" I could barely contain my school girl giggles when I said, "Can't you see the little balls?" Sadly, I found this unbelievably funny.

As we drove home from the lovely south-Mississauga neighbourhood, we passed by Lester B. Pearson International Airport. As we neared the airport, I noticed traffic slowing down, but I could still see far enough ahead to know that there was no valid reason for this slow down. As we approached the end of the airport property I asked Ana to look off to the side and see if the shell of the airplane from last week's crash was still there. Sure enough, she could see an airplane tilted down into a ravine. I glanced over and only saw part of it. After we passed it, traffic sped right back up to normal. I guess everyone straining their necks to see the once flaming wreckage slows us all down. Funny how that works.

Regarding that plane crash, there was a good article in the most recent Macleans about how two minutes really is enough time to evacuate an airplane. Good to know. It also included various opinions as to whether it qualified as a miracle or not. Seeing the plane burn and then only later hearing that there were no fatalities, I had no problem classifying it as a miracle.

   [ posted by William @ 6:36 PM ]

Sermon Excerpt
I brought the message at my church on Sunday. This summer we're taking the opportunity to focus each week on a different Old Testament story. My story on Sunday was from the book of Esther. The whole sermon basically was a summary and retelling of the whole story. It's quite an interesting one. I won't quote part of that retelling as it would be out of context, but here is part of my introduction.

After a lifetime of education at school and lectures from family, TV, roommates and girlfriends about too much sugar, too much fats, and not enough fruits and vegetables, some of it is starting to hit me. Candy doesn’t sit in my stomach as nicely as it used to. I eat salads at buffets now. I usually only take one serving of dessert. The eating habits of my childhood and teenage years are giving way to the eating habits of adulthood.

In our lives, in our relationship with God, there are certain things, like prayer, acts of charity, and reading scripture that are nourishment for our souls, spiritual food. As a child we understand God in a certain way and as we age and mature, through prayer and study of the scriptures, we see God differently. God hasn’t changed, but we begin to see him in different ways. Candy-coated Bible stories that were once cute and cuddly still have meaning but they lose that cutesy charm that worked in Sunday School. Noah’s ark is a story about the drowning death of thousands even millions of people. David and Goliath ends with Goliath’s head being chopped off and paraded around the country. These gruesome details are ones that we keep from the children, but they are a part of the story that we as adults cannot ignore.

The story of Esther is no different. As a children’s story, it’s a tale of a virtuous young woman who honours the instruction of her elder cousin and faithfully saves the nation of Israel from extinction. An adult reading of the story paints it a little bit differently. The Bible is full of great stories like this, and we can keep reading them long after we’re not children anymore.

The story of Esther is quite redemptive, but there are a few problems with it, some that I mentioned during the sermon, and some that I didn't. I did mention how God isn't mentioned at all.
I did mention that the resolution to the royal edict declaring Jewish genocide is only resolved by making another edict whereby the Jews can fight back and kill their enemies. I also mentioned how Queen Vashti is quite justified in refusing to obey her husband's drunken demand that she dance naked at his little party.
I didn't mention that Esther becomes Queen by capitalizing on her sexual skills. I didn't mention the over-indulgence taken in the past in the name of the fest of Purim. I didn't mention the historical debate over whether it belongs in the canon or whether it even happened, or that no historical evidence of Vashti or Esther ever appear anywhere outside of the Bible.

I came to appreciate the story a lot more in my deep analysis of it in writing the sermon, as weird and improbable as it sounds. It's a great story of making the best out of lousy circumstances and it's way more interesting to read as an adult.

   [ posted by William @ 3:15 PM ]

Jerks All Around
Recently, a fellow blogger wrote a post about his frustrations with organized Christianity and its least tolerable and most vocal adherents. In his post, he sums up much (not all) of his frustration in the fact that so many Christians are jerks.

Ironically, he is a follower of Christ (although he despises the word "Christian") and he also admits his own capacity to be a jerk.

I identified strongly with his post.
- Immediately I agreed that lots of Christians are jerks. I can think of too many discussions about theology that ended in name calling, accusations of unbelief, and weakened friendships, and sometimes even I would even get angry. Jerk-Christians are jerks to other Christians when they think they are safest. Jerk Christians are jerks to the outside world when they just don't care.
- Then I realized my own propensity to arrogance and selfish, irrational judgment. I am often a jerk, and it wouldn't take me too long to find other people who know me mostly as a jerk. I like to think that I have become better at understanding and communicating with people, but I still fail at that.

It seems that there would be three competing theories:
i) Graham is wrong and his opinion is altered because of a few bad apples that have ruined the reputation of the rest of the batch, because Christian faith lowers ones jerk-potential
ii) The world is full of jerks, and as a cross-section of the population, Christians will have their fair share of representation
iii) Graham is right and there are specific reasons why Christians are jerks sometimes by definition.

Here are the reasons Graham gives:
1) The Power legacy of Christendom
2) The doctrine of justification by faith alone
3) A particular understanding of the nature and function of Scripture
4) A combination of missionary zeal and a modernist and foundationalist understanding of truth
5) Christianity-centric understanding of Church and the Kingdom of God

I firmly believe that the teachings of Jesus impact people's lives for the better(ie. more understanding, less selfish, less judgmental and more self reflective). At the same time, I tend to sympathize with Graham's points, some of which could use some theological unwrapping. These points very often justify Jerk-Christian behaviour, and they create an environment where one's supposed interpretation supersedes Christ's call to humility and self-reflection. However, I feel that I most closely support theory ii) from above.

I wrote in a blog post a while ago how our society too easily declares everyone a 'nice guy' (ie. when someone dies, it's always too bad because they were really nice, or when a criminal's identity is revealed, it's always a surprise because they were so nice). Not to contradict myself (moreso to reaffirm the chaos that is our post-modern society), but I think we also live in a world where everyone is also, at the same time, all jerks.

Dictionary.com defines a jerk as "A foolish, rude, or contemptible person." So someone living outside of proper conduct would then be a jerk. In a pluralistic setting, we each have our own personal comfort and lifestyle affirmed. So when someone's lifestyle infringes on someone else's comfort, it's natural for them to be irritated, and suddenly they are both jerks, both the offender for infringing on the other's comfort and the victim for making a big deal about it. It's pretty tough not to be a jerk. If I drive too fast, I'm a jerk. If I drive too slow, I'm a jerk. If I don't quiet my kids in the mall, jerk. If I discipline my kids too harshly, I'm a jerk. I cheer for the wrong sports team, I bring the wrong beer to the party, I don't recycle enough, I eat the wrong kind of food. Jerk. Jerk. Jerk. Jerk. In some Christian circles, aggression and ideological firmness is praised and anything hinting of pluralism or post-modernism is forbidden. In those circles the definition of jerk than it is in Graham's emerging church culture, among others.

I try not to be a jerk, and I bemoan the times when I am a jerk, but it is almost impossible to avoid being labeled as a jerk by some group of people that I'm offending. When someone thinks that I am a jerk, I take that very seriously (which begins to explain my neurological condition), but we can't validate everyone's critique of our behaviour.

Part of the "solution" is to utterly avoid all generalizations. If someone is a jerk and they are a Christian, that is an accountability issue. If someone is a Jerk-Christian, that's a theological discussion needing to happen (as Graham has initiated). If you are a Christian, keep being a Christian. If you are a jerk, stop being a jerk. If you think all Christians are jerks, you don't know enough Christians. If you don't think any true Christians are jerks, you don't know enough Christians.

   [ posted by William @ 5:32 PM ]