| Christmas 2003 Recently Jim and I heard Yann Martel speak at the annual Gala Banquet for the Saskatchewan Book Awards in Regina (yes, my book was short-listed, but didn’t win!). Martel won the Booker Prize for his novel Life of Pi, a fantastic account of a boy surviving for many months in a life-boat on the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger. In response to several questions on the truth-fulness of Life of Pi, Martel replied: “That depends on how you define truth and what you focus on: are you asking about factual truth, moral truth, human truth, spiritual truth? Life of Pi invites the reader into a leap of faith on every page – isn’t that what life is, a series of leaps of faith?” I found Martel’s answer intriguing, and vowed to use his line in a sermon one day. His response also fits with Advent and Christmas and Jesus, with New Year’s and the world and our own personal lives today. Looking at the world over this past year, it is easy to despair: the painful situation in Israel and Palestine, the war in Iraq, the fear of terrorism, the continued exploit-ation by the rich of the poor, civil wars and the AIDS crisis in Africa. Closer to home, we are once again serving over 400 families with Christmas hampers this year in our own community (would that this is no longer needed). More and more teenagers are drifting through life with-out a purpose, without an anchor of love nor hope for the future. The local Robin’s Donuts does good business in the night because of the many kids who have no place to go. “Young people are afraid to dream,” observed a concerned teacher one day. But if life is truly a series of daily leaps of faith (beginning with dawn: we trust that the sun will rise), then we can also notice increasing numbers of people searching for deeper meaning in life in the face of immense odds. We can notice the growing number of people who take stock of their priorities in life, and the slow but steady development of environmental programs in response to the Kyoto Accord. In the face of outbursts of violence, increasing numbers are actively working for peace. I think here especially of the historic gathering this fall in Norway of Israeli and Palestinian women, who subsequently developed their own peace plan in their war-torn and beloved country. The Internet has created a global relational dynamic that is unprece-dented and powerful. Back in March 2003 our little local group was part of the Candlelight Peace Vigil Wave which rolled across the globe according to time zones, and which could be followed hour by hour through photos posted on a web-site. Emily Dickinson once said: “Hope is the thing with feathers.” In other words, hope is fragile. Most leaps of faith are very fragile, as fragile as a newborn baby. Advent and Christmas invite us to a leap of faith: that all is not lost with the world, all is not lost with humanity. Every day, every year, God considers us worth saving in the person of Jesus Christ. We mess things up pretty bad for each other, for ourselves, for creation. Yet in the midst of this and despite of this, Someone keeps hoping that one day we can make the ultimate leap of faith and live out of our God-given capacity for goodness, compassion, and stewardship of creation: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2) ~~
Dear friends and family, Christmas 2003 Another year passed with lots of leaps of faith, some easier than others. Our children are growing and thriving young adults who embrace life in hope and trust through big and small things. All still reasonably close to home, each nevertheless lives his/her own unique life: RACHELLE – If there was an award for Miss Independent, this 17-year old deserves it in the best sense of that word. With Dad on the farm and Mom at work in Saskatoon or elsewhere, there are many days that Rachelle has the house in town to herself. She has proven beyond a doubt that she’s not only capable of handling the freedom, but also makes sure the dishes get done and the place gets cleaned up periodically! Her heart’s desire is to graduate from high school in six months and spend a year in the Netherlands (and Portugal where my brother now lives with his family). She reminds us all every day how many more days until we fly to Europe (my parents will be married 50 years in 2004). Her best friend Marla is planning to come with us and Rachelle has created Dutch language lessons for her .... are they excited or what!! Meanwhile she is finishing Grade 12 and working at Family Pizza, saving money for her year in Europe, although she does plan to find work once she is there. DAVID – At nearly 22 he enjoys living in his own apartment which he lavishly furnished this past year thanks to his employer, Battleford Furniture. Cooking for himself is still a challenge, more due to lack of time than good will, so a meal at Mom’s place is still much appreciated. Besides working full-time at the furniture store, David continues to work a few shifts per week at a video-store and to operate his own DJ business called Sonic Sound DJ Services (school dances, Christmas/Halloween parties, weddings, anniversaries, reunions, even a funeral or two). He tried early morning running with a few doctors in town who loved his company, but his packed days required sleeping past 6 a.m. Now he’s taking up morning swimming with some of his Jehovah Witness friends, and enjoys the odd drink with a new friend who happens to be a lawyer ... where does he find them all?! Periodically he invites his Dad over for Movie night, and recently the two of them watched the first Midnight Showing at the theatre of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. DANIEL – Now 20, after about two years of working at Wal-Mart (past year in a supervisory position) Daniel called it quits and went to work for a small local courier service. He now enjoys a 2002 GMC 3/4 ton 4WD truck with leather seats (!!) in which he does an average of 500 km per day, delivering UPS parcels on a northern and a southern route. When I expressed concern about him being on the road so much in winter conditions (doing the Mom-thing), he reminded me that he’s the only family member who hasn’t been in an accident yet and he plans to keep it this way! He continues to live in a house with three others, one of whom is still in high school (Grade 12) and two who have jobs. Evenings and weekends he trades his trucking in for a Security Guard uniform and patrols hockey games, shopping malls, concerts and/or fairs, and the local bar. JIM – For a man of the land, to find himself in a time of change is not easy. Jim is experiencing the challenge of making new leaps of faith into the future, and this at a time when he is into his 60th year of life (turning 60 next November). Just before Christmas he marked this phase in his life by shaving off his beard of 20 years .... all of sudden I saw again the face I fell in love with 25 years ago! For the second year in a row, the weather made for a terrible gardening season with virtually no vegetable crop – neither fresh produce nor seed. It is a strange feeling to buy garden produce from neighbours after having had our own forever it seems. He is still writing the 2004 seed catalogue and is arranging to get a lot of seed from other growers this year. Then with me away so much for my work, he finds it discouraging to live and work alone, and is ready to slow down. Jim continues to be active as a board member for Seeds of Diversity Canada which could easily take up more time if he lets it -- maybe a possibility once work is reduced. This fall we bid farewell to his 92-year old father who passed away peacefully in the nursing home where he had lived for the past three years. His mother Helen, 86, is living at the same nursing home and Jim tries to spend time with her every week. Jim’s web-site is: www.prseeds.ca MARIE-LOUISE – Now that we are clearly in different stages of life, Jim and I are experiencing a role reversal; when we married, I followed Jim to the land, now it seems time for Jim to follow me. I feel at the start of my career, just taking off. I have lots of energy, lots of speaking invitations, lots of writing opportunities, both within the dioc-esan position I occupy in Saskatoon (Scripture Resources and Small Christian Communities) and on a freelance basis. Last spring, we had the special pleasure of hosting a good old friend from th’old country, Fr. Rud Smit, the Dutch priest who celebrated our wedding Mass 24 years ago. He spent a good three weeks with us. It was a delightful combination of reminiscing and renewing a friendship which we are resuming on a whole different level now. My book, which was released in September 2002, continues to do very well and still enjoys media attention through book reviews and related articles -- more than 12 have appeared in the past year (see my web-site)! The book received its first award in the USA last spring and was short-listed for the Saskatchewan Book Awards this fall in the First Book category. I didn’t win this last award, but the nomination drew media attention and the judges’ very favourable comments will be used by Novalis in further marketing. You can read more about the book, see my calendar of engagements, and view our family photos at www.malotg.com As this new year begins, we feel in a huge transition .... where will this year take us?
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