The bus came promptly so I got on, and there in the very back of the bus was a guy and a girl (let's say late 30's) and well, I sat in the furthest back forward facing seat that is not the very back and kinda listened as she slurred her words, and asked "for a swig of that."
She was definitely drunk, and while I questioned his soberness, he was definitely better off than she was.
As the bus rode down the road she asked someone for a light, no one responded to her question, and the man told her that she couldn't ask for a light on the bus.
A while later she asked "What time is it” I turned around to face her and answered "7:49” she slurred back angrily "I wasn't talking to you." But at this time I had a short chance to observe. Definitely, wrapped in a paper bag, was a bottle of beer.
The main thing that kept entering my mine was that I shouldn't fear; not only that, but I was concerned to do anything that would make me look afraid. I just sat where I was, never turning around, but listening.
The bus stopped and a number of people got off. At this point, the driver took the opportunity to confront the couple. I could not hear what he said, and I do not know if he asked them to leave, or just to get rid of the alcohol. Either way, they seemed surprisingly willing to get up and leave.
I watched then as they stood outside the bus; the man supporting the woman. Again, she put the bottle to her lips, but he had had enough. He ripped the bottle from her hand, and though she tried to forbid him, she was unsuccessful. She stomped off in defeat while he poured the drink onto the thirsty ground, threw the bottle in the waste bin, and then ran off after her.
He loved
He cared
He pursued
I don't know if he caught up to her, nor how their story ends, for the bus drove away. A song contemplating God's greatness came into my mind, and I started to sing it, as if to comfort myself. That situation, and God's goodness clashed so severely, that I wasn't sure how to handle that. I changed the words to the song
There is brokenness beyond description
Pain to deep for words
Too hopeless for comprehension
Like nothing I have seen or heard
Who can grasp the depth or her hurting?
Who can fathom the full of her guilt?
There is brokenness beyond description
Sickness and despair
You're still, You're still
In love with her
You're still, You're still
In love with her
Holy God to whom all praise is due
You're still in love with her
And then as I walked home from the bus, there was one more song I found fitting
You are the God of the Broken
Friend of the weak
You washed the feet of the weary
Embraced the ones in need
I want to be like you Jesus
To have your heart in me
You are the God of the Humble
You are the Humble King
To have that heart in me: Oh God I pray that I may have your heart in me; to love the Broken and be friends with the weak. Even if they are weak because they are drunk, oh God, you love them. Give me a love that overpowers my fears. God, so many are weary, so many are in need; give me your heart for all who I come across. Amen.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Thursday, 5 February 2009
I am in a place I never thought I would go to...
Meat is not Green
I never thought I would become a vegetarian, though, when I slowly started such behaviours it didn’t seem so far off any more. Even during the last few months of not buy much meat I never thought I would become a vegan... but here I am... thinking.
I am not a Vegan.
I don’t think I will ever become a vegan. I have always felt so blessed to not have food allergies, and be able to accept food from people, and have no reason to be picky. I value my ability to eat everything, so I still don’t want to be picky.
That being said I have a beef with the meat industry. If you know me at all, you probably realize that I do not care very much about animals, though I think I should, and I don’t like the thought of animal cruelty. However, even if there were no animals hurt or killed in the meat industry I still have this against them: they harm the environment and oppress the poor.
God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is whom I follow. He made a wonderful world, allowed us to live in it and asked us to care for it. Respect for God involves respecting his creation. As I look into the meat industries environmental effects, the statistics I find are repulsive. Animals poop a lot, and when their waste, ends up in water system, this is just not a happy situation. The United Nations has labelled the meat industry as one of the most environmentally destructive forces both globally and locally. It produces more greenhouse gases than all cars, truck, ships and planes combined.
“According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads."
Not only is meat industry responsible for a large portion of pollution, it also carelessly uses resources. It takes 16 pounds of grain to create 1 pound of meat. The rain forest is being cut down, not only to provide a place for cow to be farmed, but to grow food for them. About 80% of agricultural land in the U.S. is used in some way for animal production. The world’s cattle alone consume more calories than is needed for 8.7billion people, which is more than this world’s population. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat; this seems like a lot (and I don’t even know how big a gallon is) until it is compared with the 2500 gallons of water required to produce a pound of meat; in fact, if the water used in the meat industry was not subsidized, it would cost 35 dollars per pound of hamburger meat. Over half of the utilized water in America is used to produce feed for livestock and provide them with water. I cannot justify supporting an industry that is blatantly devastating the world God created and continue to claim that I follow him.
There is something more important to me than all the trees in this world. On the sixth day of creation God created people in his image, and he saw that his creation was very good. Throughout the scriptures God commands us to care for the poor, and Jesus came to preach the good news to the impoverished. As a follower of Christ I have been called to care for the poor, look after the needy and love. Developing countries that are dying of starvation, are exporting their grain to feed cows.
“Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock: 1,300,000,000Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60,000,000
Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 60,000,000”
Just not eating meat will not get that food to the world’s poor, but it is standing up against something that is wrong, and reducing my carbon footprint, as I fight for justice.
The first change is to change myself. I have decided against supporting the world’s meat industry in any way. This, sadly includes giving up purchasing milk and eggs. If someone has barbequed me a steak, I am going to eat it rather than let it go to waste, but I am going to try my best to do nothing that will support the meat industry. If I get offered milk, and I know I have other options and that my consumption will cause the other person to need to get more milk sooner, then I sure hope I do not accept it. This will be hard, real hard, but if it is wrong, then it is wrong and I want nothing to do with it.
"It now seems plain that [a vegan diet] is the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue." –The Guardian
My facts are from:
Deep vegetarianism: http://books.google.ca/books?id=Z0s3X_vh1_EC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=meat+industry+injustice&source=web&ots=8mA-QcLh45&sig=JlaFHyzceBYBcpN6bSa5WzKCh7M&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA100,M1
GoVeg.com
EarthSave: http://www.earthsave.org/support/index.htm
Animal Liberation Front: http://www.animalliberationfront.com/
Vegan Outreach:http://www.veganoutreach.org/
James 5:1-6
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
I never thought I would become a vegetarian, though, when I slowly started such behaviours it didn’t seem so far off any more. Even during the last few months of not buy much meat I never thought I would become a vegan... but here I am... thinking.
I am not a Vegan.
I don’t think I will ever become a vegan. I have always felt so blessed to not have food allergies, and be able to accept food from people, and have no reason to be picky. I value my ability to eat everything, so I still don’t want to be picky.
That being said I have a beef with the meat industry. If you know me at all, you probably realize that I do not care very much about animals, though I think I should, and I don’t like the thought of animal cruelty. However, even if there were no animals hurt or killed in the meat industry I still have this against them: they harm the environment and oppress the poor.
God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is whom I follow. He made a wonderful world, allowed us to live in it and asked us to care for it. Respect for God involves respecting his creation. As I look into the meat industries environmental effects, the statistics I find are repulsive. Animals poop a lot, and when their waste, ends up in water system, this is just not a happy situation. The United Nations has labelled the meat industry as one of the most environmentally destructive forces both globally and locally. It produces more greenhouse gases than all cars, truck, ships and planes combined.
“According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads."
Not only is meat industry responsible for a large portion of pollution, it also carelessly uses resources. It takes 16 pounds of grain to create 1 pound of meat. The rain forest is being cut down, not only to provide a place for cow to be farmed, but to grow food for them. About 80% of agricultural land in the U.S. is used in some way for animal production. The world’s cattle alone consume more calories than is needed for 8.7billion people, which is more than this world’s population. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat; this seems like a lot (and I don’t even know how big a gallon is) until it is compared with the 2500 gallons of water required to produce a pound of meat; in fact, if the water used in the meat industry was not subsidized, it would cost 35 dollars per pound of hamburger meat. Over half of the utilized water in America is used to produce feed for livestock and provide them with water. I cannot justify supporting an industry that is blatantly devastating the world God created and continue to claim that I follow him.
There is something more important to me than all the trees in this world. On the sixth day of creation God created people in his image, and he saw that his creation was very good. Throughout the scriptures God commands us to care for the poor, and Jesus came to preach the good news to the impoverished. As a follower of Christ I have been called to care for the poor, look after the needy and love. Developing countries that are dying of starvation, are exporting their grain to feed cows.
“Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock: 1,300,000,000Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60,000,000
Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 60,000,000”
Just not eating meat will not get that food to the world’s poor, but it is standing up against something that is wrong, and reducing my carbon footprint, as I fight for justice.
The first change is to change myself. I have decided against supporting the world’s meat industry in any way. This, sadly includes giving up purchasing milk and eggs. If someone has barbequed me a steak, I am going to eat it rather than let it go to waste, but I am going to try my best to do nothing that will support the meat industry. If I get offered milk, and I know I have other options and that my consumption will cause the other person to need to get more milk sooner, then I sure hope I do not accept it. This will be hard, real hard, but if it is wrong, then it is wrong and I want nothing to do with it.
"It now seems plain that [a vegan diet] is the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue." –The Guardian
My facts are from:
Deep vegetarianism: http://books.google.ca/books?id=Z0s3X_vh1_EC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=meat+industry+injustice&source=web&ots=8mA-QcLh45&sig=JlaFHyzceBYBcpN6bSa5WzKCh7M&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA100,M1
GoVeg.com
EarthSave: http://www.earthsave.org/support/index.htm
Animal Liberation Front: http://www.animalliberationfront.com/
Vegan Outreach:http://www.veganoutreach.org/
James 5:1-6
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Confessions:
How can I expect to please you
When we live so far away
When will my life have meaning
If I’m wandering astray
Is there a reason to be good
If I am pursuing it sadly
Will anything be worth doing
If you are not with me
My fearsome efforts are folly
My friendships just a joke
Feeble hands left lonely
A punch is just a poke
Waiting for you to do magic
Breathe life all around
But I am chasing fantasies
That’s a wearing me down
"God, save me from my self
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own
And hold me to your side" Dayzwage
When we live so far away
When will my life have meaning
If I’m wandering astray
Is there a reason to be good
If I am pursuing it sadly
Will anything be worth doing
If you are not with me
My fearsome efforts are folly
My friendships just a joke
Feeble hands left lonely
A punch is just a poke
Waiting for you to do magic
Breathe life all around
But I am chasing fantasies
That’s a wearing me down
"God, save me from my self
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own
And hold me to your side" Dayzwage
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
I found Narnia
The night was long, and I was ready for it to be over, so at the first hint of light, I got up, unzipped the door, and stepped out into a different world. What I saw was marvelous. Thick snow enveloped the ground, and disguised the trees as white pylons. I was taken aback; trying to grasp the beauty of it all before I dare embark onward into the continuously falling impenetrable snow. I listened in awe of the silence that was broken only as I stepped out into Narnia, to venture further up, and further in.
Shortly, off in the distance, I heard something more than just my footsteps. I froze where I was and let my ears scout out the sound. In the distance there was water, joyfully flowing down its path. I followed the sound and it brought me to a small, ice cold stream. I followed it merrily as it tumbled gently down towards its destination. The lake wasn’t much larger than a pond, only to say that it was deep. (I did not test out how deep it was.) The sky was as white as the snow on the ground, leaving the lake a beautifully dusty grey, calm yet continuously rippling with every entering snowflakes. I wandered a little further and found refuge under a majestic tree. There, I sat in the silence and watched, taking in the beauty, constantly seeing it deeper and grander than I had before. There was always more, and it took my breath away. It was always magnificent.
Serenity.
Shortly, off in the distance, I heard something more than just my footsteps. I froze where I was and let my ears scout out the sound. In the distance there was water, joyfully flowing down its path. I followed the sound and it brought me to a small, ice cold stream. I followed it merrily as it tumbled gently down towards its destination. The lake wasn’t much larger than a pond, only to say that it was deep. (I did not test out how deep it was.) The sky was as white as the snow on the ground, leaving the lake a beautifully dusty grey, calm yet continuously rippling with every entering snowflakes. I wandered a little further and found refuge under a majestic tree. There, I sat in the silence and watched, taking in the beauty, constantly seeing it deeper and grander than I had before. There was always more, and it took my breath away. It was always magnificent.
Serenity.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Don't worry, be happy
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
For the lack
At work as staff we always do devotions. We haven't always, then we questioned if maybe our programs we not very God focused because our office time was not very God focused and we were not doing the devotions. But I took that further and thought my personal life should include more God time, and that I need to start my morning off I prayer (part of what is telling me I need to make time for God every morning, the other part in a priority thing, so I can remember God is the priority, and people too. Not stuff.) Maybe, I should leave for work early and then find somewhere on my walk to work to stop and talk to God and Bible read. See if the Bible is our daily bread, then going to work and not having Bible reading time is like going to work hungry, and it is hard to be as effective if one goes to work hungry... maybe it is hard to be as effective at work if I go without spending time with God first... or at least some time in the day. I find though sometimes the time seems empty, meaningless. Like I don't really learning anything, I don't get new inspiration, or if I do, I just forget it. And if I forget it, then did it ever really happen?
Monday, 14 April 2008
so i wrote a rap today... oh random inspiration
Chew don’t look like you’re from the hood
Chew dinna look like bad playing good
Chew don’t got down the walk
Chew don’t even got no bad boy talk
Chew say your gansta
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chew don’t look tuff
Chew don’t look like chew’ve been playen’ ruff
Chew don’t look like you’ve been in a brawl
Ch’ain’t no police afta chew at all
Chew say your gansta
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chew look like a momma’s boy
Still crying for yah favourite toy
Chew say your gansta man
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chi’m more scared of dat puny dog
Than chew an chore friends
Chew call that a mob?
Come on boy,
Chew say your gansta man
But chew just don’t look it.
Chi could take chew out with just one smack to the lid
I say Chi could take chew out with just one smack to the lid
Chew say your gansta man
But come on, boy
Chew just don’t look it.
Chew dinna look like bad playing good
Chew don’t got down the walk
Chew don’t even got no bad boy talk
Chew say your gansta
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chew don’t look tuff
Chew don’t look like chew’ve been playen’ ruff
Chew don’t look like you’ve been in a brawl
Ch’ain’t no police afta chew at all
Chew say your gansta
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chew look like a momma’s boy
Still crying for yah favourite toy
Chew say your gansta man
But come on,
Chew just don’t look it.
Chi’m more scared of dat puny dog
Than chew an chore friends
Chew call that a mob?
Come on boy,
Chew say your gansta man
But chew just don’t look it.
Chi could take chew out with just one smack to the lid
I say Chi could take chew out with just one smack to the lid
Chew say your gansta man
But come on, boy
Chew just don’t look it.
well twas fun(ny)... if you ask nicely i could even rap it for you... but chew probably don't wanna hear that
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