Advent 2011 :: Day 7

7 12 2011

by Dion Oxford

Imagine a world where no one was poor; where everyone had enough.

Imagine a world where we didn’t have to continue reading stats about the disparity between the rich and the poor because it didn’t exist.

Imagine a day when the only ‘occupy’ movement needed was around how to find more room in our hearts for the love and the joy we have for life.

Imagine a time when greed no longer existed and people didn’t do anything it took, including sacrificing human beings, in order to get more.

Imagine a day when we didn’t have to wake up to this kind of news story, which is heartbreaking on so many levels, any more.

Just Imagine!

Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly!


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Jack, Jesus and our Deepest Yearnings: Remembering Jack Layton

30 08 2011

by Brian Walsh

This week we have witnessed a national outpouring of emotion the likes of which is unparalleled in my lifetime. Canadians from across the country have expressed their grief and sorrow, indeed, their deep sense of national loss, in the death of the Honourable Jack Layton.

For readers of Empire Remixed from around the world, you may not know who Jack Layton is. The brief story is that until shortly before his death, Jack (and everyone called him Jack) was the Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) and as such, the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. That is parliamentary language for the leader of the party with the second most seats in the House of Commons.

Jack led the NDP over three elections from a distant fourth place in the House with 13 seats to a remarkable victory in the last federal election of 103 seats and into the position of the official Opposition. And perhaps that is why there is something very poignant about this man’s death. He was moving politics in a different direction in this county, the first social democrat to come so close to the Prime Minister’s office. He was a very likeable man, incredibly down to earth and he was winning new seats for his party. Read the rest of this entry »


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Good News for the Poor?

21 04 2011

by Rachel Tulloch

Watching the recent debate between Canadian party leaders, I was disappointed but not surprised that the issue of poverty was essentially ignored. Economic growth, tax rates, prisons, etc. – are popular topics because they affect people’s personal sense of comfort and security. Judging by election talk, we don’t seem to have much imagination for anything beyond that.

While the current election platforms seem rather under-ambitious when it comes to caring for those most vulnerable in our society, none of us want the overambitious platforms either — they are responsible for giving election promises such notoriously bad reputations. Canadian group Great Big Sea sings about the disparity we have all come to expect between the grandiose promises made in campaigns and what those with the power actually accomplish:

They said they’d stop the fighting
And they said they would bring peace
And they said they’d find a serum that can cure all our disease.
And they said they’d house the homeless
And put black and white in tune
And they said they’d feed a hungry child… Read the rest of this entry »


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Election Hope

15 04 2011

by Dion Oxford

Well, we’re in the middle of the campaign for the 41st Canadian federal election since confederation. And while I can speculate with some certainty as to who the Prime Minister will be before I hear any election results, and while admittedly that saddens me, it still doesn’t change where I will continue to place my hope. Regardless of whether or not I like the person who will emerge as the Prime Minister of this country, my hope rests elsewhere.

As we all watch the election campaigns unfold, we each see leaders who are extremely interested in how they were doing in the polls along the way. Each of them want and need to know if their popularity amongst voters is on the rise, and they all view their campaigns as failing if their popularity is shrinking. Read the rest of this entry »


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The Poor Are Everywhere

1 04 2011

Earlier today, Michael Shapcott tweeted “the poor are everywhere – except in Canada’s Federal Election.” In this vlog, Dion Oxford, director of the Salvation Army’s Gateway Shelter in Toronto invites Canadians, and especially the political elite to get a handle on homelessness.

What would happen if we walked through our cities’ neighbourhoods and met people who are poor? What would happen if we looked them in the eye, saw that they were cold, hungry, underclothed and underhoused? How would we be changed if we put a human face on the poor? Would this change policy, funding or – dare we suggest it – hearts?


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Gethsemane

1 04 2010

by Ann Andree

A sermon based on Mark 14:32-52

My dear brothers and sisters, in reading this passage, we have just entered into a sacred space and joined Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is my prayer that we are able to journey deeper together into the dark groves of Gethsemane. It is my prayer that we come to understand together, the abandonment Christ experienced in the garden alone.

There are few people in our broken world who are better able to connect with Christ in his moment of complete abandonment that our friends experiencing homelessness on the streets. Few people know better then these folks what it is like to die, desolately abandoned by everyone who has ever been important to you.

For those of you who don’t know, Dion, Jake and I have the privilege of walking alongside these folks experiencing homelessness at The Gateway – an 108 bed shelter, which too often is considered home to men who have been cut off from every other segment of society, many of whom have long since been abandoned by friends and family. Read the rest of this entry »


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Inclusive, Particular and Being Down and Out in Austin.

23 03 2010

by Brian Walsh

On March 17 I had the incredible honour of speaking along with my co-author, Steven Bouma-Prediger at the “National Symposium on Homelessness” in Austin, Texas. This event, hosted by a dynamic ministry called “Mobile Loaves and Fishes,” brought together around 250 people who either are involved in homelessness issues and services or who were formerly homeless for a day of reflection on “What is Home and How do we get there?”

In my presentation I spoke about how home is always rooted in memory. There is no homecoming apart from story. And I then offered a telling of the biblical story of home, homelessness and homecoming as a powerful story that could sustain both on the street ministries and transformed social policy.

Now I knew that a number of folks in the room were not Christian, but chose to be explicitly and openly Christian anyway. The fact that the majority of people involved with helping their homeless neighbours are indeed Christian and that a majority of the homeless in Austin also identify themselves as Christian, together with the fact that I am a Christian and can only speak honestly and openly from a transparently Christian perspective, I figured that non-Christians in the room might be willing to hear a take on the biblical story that just might be new and perhaps even appealing to them. Read the rest of this entry »


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Street People for Apple

11 07 2008

by Andrew Stephens-Rennie

I’m a little grumpy today. I’ve had the CBC on for the past couple of hours as I’ve been doing stuff around the house, and I think I’ve had just about enough. Just about enough hype about the blasted iPhone, how it was released in Canada today, and all the rest.

The people complain – it’s too expensive. And yet they’re no doubt sold out. It’s too expensive, but we’ll sacrifice anything to have one. Hey. We’ll even sleep on the street for a night.

Now think about this for a second. We have people sleeping on the street all night, clogging up our sidewalks, and all for what? To purchase a gadget that over the course of 3 years, on a basic plan with limited voice and data capabilities is going to cost about $4000. Read the rest of this entry »


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