I'm A Horrible Cook

I've been fighting acid reflux lately: stomach acids coming up my throat at night while I sleep. I wake up in the morning with horrendous throat pain, to such degree that I can't really enjoy any foods, because swallowing hurts so much.

So I did some research on what to eat, and one of the foods recommended for this condition is pasta. Great, my favourite!

Problem is, I'm a horrible cook. I followed a recipe today to the letter of the law, and what I got was penne with buttery milk, rather than penne alfredo. I didn't get a creamy sauce. Rather, I got runny milk that I could've drank out of a glass. Pathetic. I managed to down half of it, but my guess is tomorrow morning I'll wake up not only with a sore throat, but a sore stomach too, from all the grease I injested.

So, add a weight-loss program to the reflux. Nice...

5 Homilies in July

I attended a meeting tonight, with the Evensong group from church. I've been attending Evensong services at my church on Tuesday nights since January, and for the past few weeks I've been talking with one of the leaders about getting more involved.

So at this meeting tonight I offered to provide the homily - a short, 5 minute sermon on a biblical text - every so often. They asked me to do all the homilies in the month of July.

I'm excited about this opportunity. One of the things I miss most since leaving Regent is the lack of intellectual exercise. I do a lot of reading everyday, but somehow, it's not the same, without the discussions, lectures, research, papers, etc.....

So, this is good. There will be 5 Evensong services at my church in the month of July. So, 5 services = 5 homilies. Exciting.

I'm An Addict

Last year I heard someone say that everyone has unhealthy addictions.

She was right.

I have some horrible addictions, among which is the internet. Surely it's one of the most unhealthiest and damaging addictions around.

Arriva!

I went for an Italian dinner tonight on Commercial Drive with Sandra, Irene, and Dan. I don't know if I was just super hungry or if the food was that good, but I pretty much sucked up the food like a vacuum cleaner.

I had the Veal Parmigiana with penne in a cream sauce. It went down very nicely with a glass of (dry) white wine.

The atmosphere was nice, but I'd say it has more of a "family restaurant" feel than anything else, because the lights inside are so bright.

Below's a picture I'd taken on a previous occasion.

"Mole" Mexicano

This afternoon I went over to Ruben and Tati's. I've been editing her thesis over the past few weeks, and as a thank you, she invited me for a Mexican dinner at their place.

I arrived around 3pm, a little earlier than originally planned, because Tati's uncle (also her godfather) in Mexico, died very suddenly, and she was in quite a bit of distress about it and suggested I come early to help her think through whether she should postpone her thesis work in order to fly home for the funeral.

After a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of staying or going, we also proceeded to talk about some other very important issues: the nature of faith, and the meaning of our own death, in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus. One of the blessings of this afternoon was the privilege I had of speaking words of encouragement into their life, and pray with them.

After our discussion, we ate a wonderful spicy Mexican specialty called "mole" (literally "concoction"), a dark, rich, smooth, cooked blend of onion, garlic, several varieties of chiles, ground seeds such as sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds — known as pepitas, and a small amount of Mexican Chocolate, its best-known ingredient (the chocolate contributes richness to the sauce without adding overt sweetness). It was very a very yummy dinner, totally authentic.

After dinner, Tati and I went over the editing work I'd done on her thesis.

All in all, a very nice afternoon and evening. I arrived at home at around 9:30pm.

Lord, bless these dear friends of mine.
Strengthen Tati especially at this time, as she mourns the loss of her godfather, and as she attempts to finish her thesis.
Most importantly, imprint the meaning of the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus on both Ruben and Tati's heart, mind, and body, and enable them to attribute this meaning to their own lives, through Christ our Lord. Let it be so.

I Hate This

I'm sick of vocational confusion. I lack motivation. Don't feel like doing anything at all. It's life-draining.

Breakfast, Airport, Dinner

One of the benefits of being unemployed (or as a friend recently suggested I term it, job-free), is that I get to be present to my friends. I get to serve them in ways that seem insignificant to me, but mean a lot to them, because of their busy schedules. Serving is indeed a true Christian privilege.

Breakfast: I made In Young a pancake breakfast. He came over around 8:3oam. I baked fresh bread, made pancakes, and of course, served coffee and orange juice. We had a great time of fellowship, which ended in a time of prayer and mutual edification.

Airport: My dear friend Clau departed for Kenya this morning on a Missions trip. She'll be there for one month, doing development work/training with Somali refugees. I had the privilege of being a small part of this, by driving her to the airport, and praying for/with her for safety and spiritual growth. May Clau and her group "witness" the work that God already is doing in Kenya, and "participate", even if in a small way, in building the Kingdom to come.

Dinner: In the evening I went out for dinner with Jen. It was a great evening, on all accounts. We went to a Moroccan restaurant, my first such experience. The food was good (dessert was average), the atmosphere great, and of course, the company was also grand. After dinner we went for a walk, before heading home.

Soccerino "Albirrojo"

This past weekend, Joseph took some pictures of the soccerinos playing soccer. I'm posting a few here. I'm wearing the albirroja jersey which my bro and sis in law brought back for me from Asuncion.

Mother's Day In Abbotsford

Yesterday was mother's day. After the usual 7:30am service at church, I drove to Abbotsford around noon, arriving there at 1pm for a family lunch.

We had a very delicious Paraguayan lunch: asado, sopa, and some other goodies.

I meant to write here a prayer that I gave to her (on the back of a foto I printed out for her), but I mistakenly threw away the sheet I got the prayer from.





















I feel awkward at family gatherings lately, for two reasons. One, I feel self-conscious because I am not yet working, and everyone wants to ask me about it, but no one does because they're trying to being sensitive. The end result, however, is the elephant in the room syndrome. Two, I'm lightyears away from my family theologically, and that seems to come up again and again. It's going to take hard work on both sides to speak graciously into each other's lives.

Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

The Lord be with you: and also with you
The Spirit has come: another Counsellor to be with us forever
The Spirit has come: the Spirit of Truth
The Spirit has come: He is with us to the end of the age

Flowers

Here are some more pics I took yesterday during my walk to Granville Island:

































































































































































































Every flower stands in astonishing opposition to the sentiment that "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder." It does not. Beauty is objective, but it does require openness.

A Nice Walk

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon. It was cloudy, windy, and chilly, but still, I enjoyed the fresh air. Here are some pics I took:

Once I arrived at GI, I ordered myself a scrumptious "Cocco Ricco", an European hot chocolate (basically chocolate pudding "watered down" with hot milk). It was soooooo yummy. I also took out Alexander Schmemann's "For the Life of the World", a book on the Orthodox Church and sacramental theology, and read it for a good hour and a half. I've been nibbling at this book for ages, but I keep having to re-read sections because it's so dense (and my brain is so small)!

Here is a quote for thought, pertaining to the meaning of the Eucharistic sacrament: "[Christ] .. is our bread - because from the very beginning all our hunger was a hunger for Him and all our bread was but a symbol of Him, a symbol that had to become reality. . . His life was totally, absolutely eucharistic (full of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving) - all of it was transformed into communion with God and all of it ascended into heaven. And now He shares this glorified life with us." (43, italics his, parenthesis mine).

Summer Soccer

I joined a summer league soccer team, and today was our first game. We tied 2-2. We were down 1-0 at half, then went down 2-0 twenty minutes into the second half, but then Alex scored two goals within the last 10 minutes to bring us back level. In fact, he narrowly missed the game winner with about 3 minutes remaining.

Alex is an inspiration to me. He's 42 years old, and what he's lost in speed with his age, he's gained in wisdom. He's so smart with the ball. He's always in the right position to make a difference in the play, he makes sublime passes, he keeps himself out of trouble, and occasionally (as in, when we're down 2-0 with 10 minutes remaining), he turns it up a notch with sudden bursts of speed and/or amazing dribbling displays that leaves even young players picking up their shorts. Simply amazing.

I played 30 minutes each half. In the first half I played very well: didn't make any mistakes. I made a couple good passes, came back on defence, had a shot on net (it was blocked), and was always in position to contribute. I came off, sat for about 30 minutes (including halftime) and by the time the coach asked me to go back on I was cold and stiff. My passes were off, I couldn't trap a simple ball, and my marker consistently beat me to the ball. I was completely useless out there. It also has to do with positioning. In the first half I played centre-mid, my favourite position (and the one I'm best suited for). In the second half I played on the wing, where I felt completely lost and isolated.

I really want to keep playing, but I'm worried about my knee. I can handle casual soccer saturdays with the soccerinos, but this league is a couple notches up, and I'm not sure I can keep up with these guys. My knee is just too weak.

2nd Anniversary: Soccerinos

It's been two years since the soccerinos started playing soccer on saturdays. I'm amazed at this great group of friends that I have. Week in, week out, regardless of the weather - rain, sleet, snow, or sun, we get together to enjoy friendship and sport. Frankly, they are my closest community. I wish my church community was like my soccer community: gracious, generous, genuine.

The soccerinos were started by two Chilean women, Ceci and Mariana. They wanted to make a women's futbol team for two reasons: 1- because they never had the opportunity to play in Chile; and 2- because they wanted to build a Latin American community in Vancouver.

Well, two years later, the group is still together, and bigger than ever. The philosophy of the team has evolved somewhat too. The team's no longer just for women: men are invited to play, and also, non-Latin Americans are welcome also. So we are a mixed group: men, women, Chileans, Chinese, Colombians, Mexicans, Canadians, Argentines, Bolivians, and even a token Paraguayan. :D

Last night we had our 2 year anniversary party. Here are some pics:

Bright Wednesday

Last Sunday was Easter, for Christians in the Orthodox tradition. That means that this week, the week after Holy Sunday, is the only week all year where they don't fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.* My good Orthodox friend Mark, invited me to his place for a "Bright Wednesday" feast celebration. A food feast, in lieu of the fast.

It's been a pleasure getting to know him, and learning about his journey from the charismatic, to the Mennonite, to the Orthodox Church. I see so many similarities between his spiritual journey and mine, although my journey entailed a different trajectory: Mennonite - Anglican.

The difference between his journey and mine is primarily that I've gone to seminary, but our dissatisfaction with our church experience is very similar, and stems from the same theological and philosophical questions. I have not become Orthodox, and that is another difference, but I think the only thing that prevents me from doing so is my considerations on Anglican ordination, and family. More on that, perhaps another time...

Anyways, the celebration was at his place. He'd invited a few friends, each of whom brought either a bottle of wine or a snack. We spent the evening getting to know each other, sharing our views on various issues. Here are some thought-provoking quotes from Mark, on salvation.

Salvation not so much an event/decision as a Process: "We have been saved, we are being saved, and we should hope that one day we will be saved."

Salvation as Divinization: "...we understand salvation as nothing other than becoming Jesus. Theosis. Complete, perfect, utter union with God." (My addition: this is in part based on 2 Peter 1:4).

Evangelism as seeing my brother as my salvation: "Your neighbour will only begin to see Christ in you, if you can first sincerely see Christ in Him. When He is your salvation (i.e. the one you must love right now. . .), then you are being saved. You are passing, "from glory to glory," as St Peter put it. You no longer live, but "Christ in you" lives, as St Paul put it. You will then have fulfilled Christ's new commandment to us: to love one another as He has loved us (i.e. He has become what we are-- Sin itself-- so that we might live! You must likewise become the sin and brokenness of your brother if you would live. Wear it as your own and repent of it as if it is yours, for your brother is your life. This is your salvation!)."

The wine, the food, and the company was great. One of the girls, Esther I believe her name was, made an amazing humous dip, that was super yummy with some crackers that someone else brought.

* According to Mark, North America is the only place where the post-Easter break from fasting lasts a week. Everywhere else the break is 40 or 50 days. The reason it only lasts one week here is for cultural reasons. We live in a culture of narcissism, and in order to keep us mindful of this, and in order not to fall into the temptation of self-indulgence, people are asked to return to the regular fasting rhythm sooner than elsewhere.