Perspective

A Bright Light shines no more.

/ Dennis A. Gray / 1 Comment

I’ll tell you up front, this is the same post as I placed on my Java and Jesus blog two days ago. I Just felt I needed to post it here as well. The subject seems appropriate for this venue. For me it’s a pretty black and white issue….
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I had fully intended to write the next episode of ‘Exploring the Kingdom Gospel” this week, but then something unexpected happened. Late Wednesday night a man walked out of a local bar, got into his truck and drove off. Because he was drunk, instead of taking the on-ramp to Hwy 6 south, he took the off ramp and wound up driving south in the North-bound lanes. A few minutes later he drove head on into a car, killing the driver. That driver was a wonderful young woman named Anna Graham.

I first met Anna about a year ago. Her uncle asked me to work on a production of “Death of a Salesman” that he was directing for Guelph Little Theatre. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and Anna was no small part of it. Anna, along with Anthony “Pooch” Brown, was designing the lighting for the production. You didn’t have to watch her work for long to know that this woman not only knew what she was doing, she enjoyed it immensely and had a real gift for creativity. You also didn’t have to watch for long to see just how proud her uncle, my friend Lloyd, was of her.

And now she’s gone!

As you scan the status lines of her friends on Facebook you can see the range of emotions. One person “is sad“, another “is numb“, one more is “trying to come to terms.” The most vocal of the lot is “Really mad….and hurt…and not understanding why this life has to be so f**kin unfair!!!” (the asterisks are mine). I know how he feels. I felt the same way when James died a year ago (I wrote about it here.). But somehow, I don’t feel the same pain about Anna, not the same way.

I know part of the reason is the simple fact Anna and I weren’t as close as James and I were. It’s no reflection on Anna; we worked together on ‘Salesman’ and then went our separate ways, her to her circle and me to mine. Most of the pain I feel is for her uncle Lloyd. Him I do consider a friend, and as both actor/director and human being, have a great deal of respect and admiration for the man. I can only imagine what he is going through. He’s never far from my thoughts.

But the biggest difference in this case is there was some good to be found in Jame’s death. He had been sick for a long time. In many ways his passing was a relief. His suffering is over and the spiritual part of me can at least begin to wrap my head around the idea that God decided it was for the best.

But in Anna’s case this logic does not apply. The hard cold fact is Anna died because someone couldn’t find anything better to do with a Wednesday night than get drunk watching naked women dance on stage. And even that might not matter except he then compounded things by making the selfish decision to drive himself home, and no one, not the bartender, not the servers, not his friends, nor the big burly guy at the door took the necessary steps to stop him. Anna is gone because human beings made selfish and wrong choices! Plain and simple!

Do I sound like I’m ranting? Of course I am. I’m angry! Because the simple fact is THIS IS WHY WE NEED GOD!!

Every day on the news and in other media I hear people trying to tell me how outmoded a concept God is. How human beings don’t need some invisible being in the sky, they are quite capable of conducting their own affairs. Morality is a flexible concept and changes from day to day, what’s good for you is bad for me, etc. etc. etc. Religion is no longer required because we can run our own affairs quite nicely thank you.

But the fact is, human beings, generally speaking, as a species, are no where near smart enough, wise enough, deep enough or insightful enough to be their own moral compass. When push comes to shove each of us, left to our own devices, will make a decision based not on the common good, or the welfare of others, but on our selfish wants and desires. The only hope for us is to have a moral guide that comes from outside of ourselves. A culture of accountability which holds us personally responsible for our actions on a level above and beyond the human trappings of law and order. This is the role religion fulfills.

And before you get started on the evils of organized religion, let me say it’s not the institution of religion I’m talking about. Rather it is the ground level, day-to-day belief that God is watching, and that someday we will have to face Him one-on-one and He will say, “Explain it to me again why you were a complete and total moron” – or words to that effect. For thousands of years the love for and fear of God has kept human beings from acting out of selfish motives and inspired us to think twice before we act, even if the only reason is the slim possibility that if we don’t behave we might find ourselves spending eternity roasting on a spit over a lava-fed barbecue. Though personally I have always suspected the lake of fire in Revelation is a metaphor for something far worse.

I know – I’m preaching. I’m taking advantage of Anna’s death to get on my soapbox and call down fire and brimstone. Well, I make no apologies for it. I’m not trying to be comforting, I’m trying to stop this kind of thing from happening the only way I know how.

I know full well that if it were not for the work of God in my life, I could well be that same moron getting drunk watching naked women dance. Or possibly something much worse. This is why Jesus came to earth as a child and sacrificed himself as a man – to save us from ourselves. To give us an option other than hopelessly trying to be our own moral compass. He is God’s response to our insistance on doing things our own way.

The hard cold fact is that this world is the way it is because human beings, collectively and individually, have said “Sorry God, we don’t need you any more. We are totally capable of making our own decisions. We are the captains of our own fates. Thanks for all your help in the past – we’ll take it from here.” And like it or not – this fractured, faulty, unfair world we live in is the result. I don’t like it either, but that’s the way it is.

The good news is this; when we said that, God responded by saying, “Fine. Have it your way. But when it all falls apart, when the unfairness of it all gets to you and you just can’t take it any more – please, please, PLEASE! Come crying back to Me and I promise – I WILL HELP YOU GET THROUGH IT!”

Good-bye Anna.

Shalom everyone.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

/ Dennis A. Gray / Leave a comment

I was doing a 100 km tour on my bicycle over the Labour Day weekend when it occurred to me that I had not been on my blogs for nearly three months. In part it was because I really felt the need to take a break from it all, but the other half of it was the fact the the weather was just too nice to spend cooped up in my basement office staring at a computer screen. But now summer is over and it would seem the time has come to take a sledge hammer to my writer’s block and get back in the zone.

It wasn’t really all that eventful a summer. Mostly the days were spent (when I was not at work) enjoying a park, spending time with my wife Roberta, or just cycling all around town exploring areas of the city I haven’t seen is a while. The trips we planned to take didn’t happen, the parties we thought about holding never materialized, and yet there’s no disappointment because all in all – life is good.

 

 

There was one event however, that will stand out in my memory about the summer of 2007. A few weeks ago my friend Brian took Roberta and I up in the single engine airplane owned by the his flying club. I will admit there was a little apprehension as we made our way out to the runway. I’d been flying in a small plane many years ago and I don’t know if it was the weather that day, or the skill of the pilot I was with but it wasn’t the best experience of my life. I was determined however to give it another shot.

It was a terrific experience. I’m not afraid of heights, but I do have some issues when I’m not sure of my footing. Unsecured ladders, for example, can be a problem for me; but once my senses got accustomed to the idea of being suspended 1000ft above the ground with no visible means of support it was great fun. We took a bunch of pictures (my online album of them can be found HERE ) and I find that it was one of the most enjoyable photographic experiences I’ve had. I can’t wait for my next opportunity.

Among the many pictures we took was one of the Guelph water treatment plant (see pic). Brian’s comment at the time was, “Why does everybody always take a picture of the water treatment plant?” I’ve been giving the question some thought.

It’s because we didn’t know it was there! Well, we knew it was there – intellectually. Most of us realize that Guelph has a water treatment plant and a significant number may even know where it is, but I’m willing to suggest that the vast majority of Guelphites have never actually seen it and so we lack that personal point of contact that gives it a true sense of it being real. And I think it’s that way with a lot of things; it’s all a matter of perspective.

That was most exhilarating aspect of our time in the air, getting a different perspective on the city in which I have spent my entire life. The Church of Our Lady, my own little townhouse, the incredible amount of tree cover that Guelph has for a city that large, not to mention the incredible amount of treeless new subdivisions going up around its edges. Roberta and I both found that the change of perspective gave us a new appreciation for the places we took for granted as an everyday part of our lives.

So I’d like to publicly thank Brian for the experience and the new perspective. I can see where aerial photography could easily become an obsession if it is given the chance. The question now is, how do I feed that obsession without making a pest of myself. Though I did find this article on the web about aerial photography using a kite and an RC control. Now I’ll have to pester my brother Alex.

Later…..

Please, Don’t remind me…

/ Dennis A. Gray / Leave a comment
I have always been confused by Canadians’ apparent dislike for their own history, but I never fully appreciated until today just how deep this aversion runs. 

In an article entitled “A lesson in respect” published in today’s Toronto Sun, Sheila Copps points out a major difference between Canada and the U.S. in regard to respect for our leaders. As you are likely aware, U.S. presidents establish a library at the end of their terms that contains memoirs, papers, correspondence etc. that define their term in office. In Canada however, no such libraries exist; in fact, we don’t even have a single library for all their papers. Not only that but we have even squashed every attempt to create one. I’ll quote Ms. Copps….

“Two attempts to establish the Canadian equivalent of a presidential library have failed. The first, at the newly minted Canadian Museum of Civilization, was quashed more than two decades ago when cost overruns terminated the project in the planning stages. Prime Minister Paul Martin recently killed the second, a proposed Canadian history museum, because the project was too closely associated to his former boss. Neither decision was surprising. Canadians are averse to hero worship and even more leery about positive political histories.”

Why is this? Can anyone out there explain to me why it is that we are so indifferent to our own history in this country? Especially when so much time and effort is spent agonizing over just what it is to be a Canadian? National identity is born out of a nation’s history. Canada is the country it is today because of what has happened in our past, especially in the political arena. We are who we are because of the actions of people like Douglas, Deifenbaker, Trudeau and Pearson, and yes, even the likes of Mulroney, Turner, Clark and Campbell.

Every Prime Minister, regardless of political affiliation, has contributed in some way to making Canada the country so many people around the world want to call home. These contributions deserve to be chronicled and remembered. The inside story as to how and why decisions were made, both good and bad, are important if we are to learn the lessons the past has to teach us. And yet, because we seem to consider politicians unworthy of remembering, for any reason, we will instead condemn future generations to fighting the same battles over and over again.

So great is our disregard for the people who have led this great country, it took an act of parliament under the authority of Parks Canada to ensure that weeds do not over grow the graves of former Prime Ministers. Apparently we aren’t even willing to mow the grass to afford them some small measure of dignity.

Once again, I have to ask the question, Why? Earlier I referred to our attitude toward history as indifference; that might not be quite right. We recoil from our history so intensely I wonder if we aren’t in some measure ashamed of it. Like an embarrassed twenty-something we would rather people didn’t mention the things we did when we were teenagers. Our current attitudes and preferences are so different from what they once were we can’t believe, and don’t want to admit, we ever held to any other philosophy.

And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe when it comes to the community of nations we are still just a twenty-something. After all, while other nations have been around for hundreds, even thousands of years, Canada is a mere 140 years old. As nations go, we’re still a teenager, maybe even adolescent. Maybe, like most teenagers, we can’t think beyond the next big date, what parties will we be invited to, or which nation is paying attention to us this week. Maybe, like most teenagers, we won’t care about what really matters in life until we’ve grown up a little bit.

So, let me play the role of parent and say — Pay attention to your history Canada. Like older relatives, one day you’ll appreciate the wisdom of those who once led this country. I know it doesn’t make sense to you right now, but trust me, you’ll understand when you get older!