Gratitude: Some Thoughts for Yonge Street Mission

1 02 2010

by Brian Walsh

In a culture of perpetual dissatisfaction,
…a culture where you are what you have made yourself,
…a culture of ceaseless craving
……for new experiences,
……for consumer goods,
……for power,
……for sex,
……for wealth,
……for status,
…a culture of hyperactive frenzy and anxiety,
…a culture of paralysis and numbness,
……in this culture,
……gratitude can set us free.

Gratitude receives life as a gift,
…not a self-made accomplishment.

Gratitude is rooted in deep satisfaction,
…not held captive to dissatisfaction.

Gratitude replaces isolation
…with community. Read the rest of this entry »


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Whole Bodies, Transformed Minds

18 01 2010

by Brian Walsh

Dr. King once said that Christians are too often like thermometers, registering and reflecting the temperature all around them, when in fact we are called to thermostats, influencing and changing the spiritual, moral, and cultural atmosphere of the society in which we live.

Kind of sounds like the distinction between being “conformed to this world” or being “transformed by the renewing of our minds” that Paul’s talking about in Romans 12:

“I appeal to you, therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

And in our ministry we are unabashedly all about transformation. But we also stand with Paul (and King) by insisting that transformed “minds” without bodies presented as living sacrifices is a pious intellectualism that doesn’t really amount to very much. No, the whole point of a transformed mind is that we might be discerning people, perceiving in the midst of our day to day personal and professional lives what embodied discipleship looks like.

There is no mind/body dualism for Paul. And there is no possibility of separating worship from this whole matter of transformed minds and sacrificial bodies either. Whole-bodied, mind-transformed, non-conformist living is precisely what worship is all about. Indeed, this way of living is worship!


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Mining Justice Campaign

12 01 2010

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

This morning I had the opportunity to sit down with Stefan Cherry, a policy analyst with the Mennonite Central Committee, and a church planter in the Vanier neighbourhood of Ottawa. Amongst the many things we discussed, was the MCC’s work on Mining Justice.

Canadian companies are a dominant force in the mining and resource extraction industry across the globe. Seventy-five percent of all mining companies in the world are based in Canada. In 2008 some 1200 companies operated in Canada and in 100 other countries. That’s not insignificant.

To round it all out, some of these companies receive subsidies from the Canadian government. This is a reason for great concern, especially considering the current environmental and human rights abuses that are being uncovered in many places throughout the world. Read the rest of this entry »


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Obama as Empire-Builder

5 01 2010

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

As I was looking through my feed reader, I noticed an interesting post by Fr. John Dear, on Gareth Higgins‘ blog from earlier in December, discussing Obama and Afghanistan. If I had noticed it earlier, I would have posted it alongside Brian’s reflection, “Swords or Peace?.” I didn’t post it then, but here it is:

It doesn’t seem to matter that most Americans want the war to stop, that most Afghanis want us out. It doesn’t even matter that only a hundred Al Qaeda members remain in Afghanistan. The rest have taken refuge in Pakistan. Our new war president says the war must continue.

“You would think that we don’t have enough to do here at home,” Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich said this week.

You would think that we don’t have 47 million Americans who go to bed hungry, 47 million Americans who don’t have any health care, 15 million Americans who are out of work, another 10 million Americans whose homes are threatened with foreclosure, people going bankrupt, and business failures. All these things are happening in our country and we’re acting like a latter-day version of the Roman Empire, reaching for empire while inside we rot. We have to challenge this because our future as a nation is at stake. If we continue to militarize, we lose our civil liberties, we lose our capacity to meet our needs here at home. Read the rest of this entry »


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The Mysterious Death of Marcelo Rivera

31 12 2009

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

Our friend Jamie Moffett, director of the film “The Ordinary Radicals” that followed Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw on their Jesus for President Book Tour recently posted this clip on his blog. Earlier this year, Jamie was down in El Salvador working on a documentary project.

While he was down there, he came across the story of Marcelo Rivera, an environmental and anti-mining activist who was disappeared and later found murdered. Rivera was working to draw attention to the harmful effects of a gold-mining operation led by the Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Company.

This week, according to Democracy Now, another “prominent anti-mining activist has been assassinated in El Salvador.” According to the organisation, “thirty-two-year-old Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto was shot dead near her home. One of her children was also injured in the shooting. Sorto was an active member of the Cabañas Environment Committee.”

The CEC has been active in campaigning against the reopening of a gold mine owned by Pacific Rim. What’s more valuable, gold or lives?


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What If?

30 12 2009

Originally posted on Allan Reeve’s blog, he’s given us permission to repost it here at Empire Remixed in its entirety. Allan is the minister at Trinity United Church in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

by Allan Reeve

What if Jesus were born in Canada today?

To be true to the story, he would most certainly be born an indigenous native Canadian. He would be of a tribe out on the fringe of the Empire. He’d live within a day’s travel of the capital – say within an Otter’s flight – putting him perhaps in a community in Northern Quebec?

It’s been seven generations since his people have drifted from their traditional ways. Slowly at first, they lost their trust in the land as the source of security. Slowly they began to depend upon the machines and tinned foods and coin of the realm that eventually invaded every aspect of their lives.

Mary and Joe remember the stories their grandparents told them. They remember trips stolen away from school where they were shown how to negotiate the waters, get what was needed from the land, use everything to good purpose, watch the stars, the birds, the tracks that would tell them where they were, when they were, who they were. Sometimes they can even remember parts of the songs their grandparents sang. Read the rest of this entry »


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Advent IV :: Mary’s Magnificat

20 12 2009

by Brian Walsh

Like everyone else, she received the news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with joy, wonder … and fear.

Joy that the barren had conceived.
Joy that an heir would be born.
Joy that Elizabeth’s womb would bear fruit.

Wonder because of the memories this evoked.
Wonder in the memory of Sarah, Rebekah and Hannah.
Wonder about whether God was on the move, whether the promises were to be fulfilled.

Promises and wonder.
Fulfilled dreams.
All bound up with a newly conceived child.

Maybe that is where the fear came from.
A child born into oppression.
A child born into captivity.
A child born into violence.
A child born while Herod is on the throne. Read the rest of this entry »


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Advent III :: Turning the Corner

13 12 2009

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

I think that maybe we’re turning the corner. Maybe, just maybe, this time of waiting and expectation can birth joy and exuberance. I’m still not sure, still not certain what will come. Surely the spirit of God is moving. Surely the way of the Lord is being prepared.

The past weeks have been difficult. The past months somewhat overwhelming. This year, walking in advent hope and expectation has come with its share of challenges.

On numerous occasions in the past few weeks, I’ve been caught referring to advent as “lent.” Read the rest of this entry »


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Advent II :: Swords or Peace?

6 12 2009

by Brian Walsh

We had to wait for this. He wasn’t going to make any rash decisions. He had to hear from all of his advisors. There was a need to have all the evidence before him. Yes, this is a military issue. But just as importantly, if not more so, this is a political decision. You don’t rule without good ratings in the polls.

And so this week President Obama presented to the American people, to all of America’s allies and enemies, indeed, to the whole world, his strategy for Afghanistan. Thirty thousand more troops. An offensive surge to push back the Taliban and root out al Qaeda, a securing of the cities, and an expectation that the corrupt government of that country would get its act together and start carrying its military weight in this conflict.

And, of course, the President had to insist that this is not another Vietnam. I’m sorry, but the parallels are stunning. A weak, ineffectual local government, troop increases, military surge, the enemy taking refuge beyond the borders of the country involved, a losing war in the countryside requiring an emphasis on securing the population centres. It’s all there. We’ve seen this before.

Read the rest of this entry »


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Advent I :: A Season of Beginnings

29 11 2009

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

Advent is a season of beginnings.

Of newness. Of first steps, and first phases. Of expectation. Of waiting. I imagine a young Joseph, concerned his wife-to-be may be unfaithful. And not just unfaithful, crazy! Certifiably insane – who gets pregnant from talking to angels, or being “favoured” by God?

But he shows up at her door.

Reluctantly?
In faith? In forgiveness?
In hope?
In trust? Read the rest of this entry »


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