Writing for Redemption

Once again I received emailed words of wisdom from Henri Nouwen, and I'm passing them along to you.

Writing to Save the Day

Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.

Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be "redeemed" by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.

Soundtrack for My Workday

These are the albums I've played today, in the order I listened to them, thanks to my handy-dandy ipod!

Karla Adolphe - Come Home
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Jacob & Lily - The Cathedral Project
Jason Upton - Trusting the Angels
Kendall Payne - Grown
Rik Leaf - Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

And with that, I have a few things left to do in the little over an hour that remains until my workday draws to a close.

Church leadership meeting tonight, work tomorrow, and then the WEEKEND!

The News

Part of my daily routine on work days involves a trip through the news headlines, local, national, American, international. I tease Kari for her fascination with newspapers, but admit that I regularly check headlines at home, and spend at least half an hour or so most mornings working my way through various articles.

So, in honor of that, here are links to a couple of articles that caught my eye today:

Because I'm invested in the outcome of the dispute between the city and the transit union, I found this one interesting. Apparently the earliest that I'll need to seek alternate transportation is May 7th.

Because I think young people need to care about national and international issues, because I've had a fascination with Justin Trudeau since he delivered a moving eulogy for his father, and because, if I lived in his riding, I'd probably vote for him, this one caught my eye.

I follow up my trip through the news with a trip through the blogs on my sidebar, plus a few others, and I have a blog post to recommend to you as well.

I liked the thought that Cameron Conant posted here. Remember that he wants to.

See you around!

Impending Strike

Calgary Transit is once again considering the merits of going on strike. I have to say, I don't have an opinion one way or the other on the union's complaints, I'm just annoyed that I am now in the process of making contingency plans - figuring out how the heck I'm going to get to and from work every day should the strike actually happen.

Last I heard they're trying to schedule a strike vote for Tuesday, after which they have to give 72 hours notice before beginning to strike. Apparently they may try other job action first, but who knows? I heard one of the things they might try is wearing street clothes instead of their uniforms - because it makes a huge difference in how they drive the bus or train if they're wearing jeans instead of ugly grey pants.

All of this has got me thinking about my forthcoming purchase of a car. I wasn't actually planning to start seriously looking until July, but now, who knows? I was scanning my way through used car ads online at lunch, and found some possibilities, though I don't yet have all the money in my budgeted range. I may try and convince my parents that it would be more convenient for them to loan me the rest of the money I would need to buy a car than it would be to drive me to and from work, or give up one of their cars every day so I can drive myself.

So, if anyone knows of a good deal on a reliable car without excessive mileage, an automatic (this is very important, as anyone who followed the blog and my adventures in trying to learn to drive a standard will know), that will get me around the city, and let me make some weekend trips to see friends and to the mountains, let me know. Particularly if the car is green - it would make my friend Rae very prophetic if I end up with a green car (a bit of a joke, a bit serious, from a conversation and prayer time we had about eight months ago).

On a Mission

In between running back and forth from my desk to a printer in the filing room behind my desk, feeding it envelopes 10 or 15 at a time, I thought I'd share these thoughts on the whole of life as "mission" that arrived in my email from the Henri Nouwen society this morning.

Fulfilling a Mission
When we live our lives as missions, we become aware that there is a home from where we are sent and to where we have to return. We start thinking about ourselves as people who are in a faraway country to bring a message or work on a project, but only for a certain amount of time. When the message has been delivered and the project is finished, we want to return home to give an account of our mission and to rest from our labours.

One of the most important spiritual disciplines is to develop the knowledge that the years of our lives are years "on a mission."