Yesterday was a good and relaxing day for us here. I am still waking up at 3, but in general we are handling the jet lag very well. Ginny is recovering from her infection and has not found the travel too taxing. It has been good to stop here at the Manila Guest house for 2 nights to catch our breath before heading up north to Tabuk where we will be with people all the time. We have had the privilege of meeting and visiting with a few old friends/colleagues at the Guest House here. Rambie did not have any classes at the seminary yesterday so he came over after their morning chapel and spent most of the day with us. He and I took 3 cases of our heavier luggage (books and things) to the bus station. The bus company also acts as a cargo service for things like this. Later today we will fly up to Tuguegarao which is about an hour’s drive from Tabuk. Christy and Eduardo will meet us there.
Rambie’s Spiritual Advisor (Fr. Frary) from the seminary wanted to meet us so last night Rambie took us to the seminary for evening prayers and then we went out with Fr. Frary for Japanese food. Fr. Frary is an elderly American priest who has served in Asia (Philippines, Korea and Japan) for much of his ministry life. He entertained us in style, first taking us to his room at the seminary for appetizers and an aperitif. Then we went out to his favourite nearby Japanese restaurant where they cook the food right in front of you. As he said, “if conversation wanes, the cooking is entertaining in itself.” Conversation did not exactly wane, but the gentleman speaks softly with a New England accent and is sometimes difficult to hear and follow even for us, especially in a noisy restaurant setting. I don’t know how Rambie manages to follow him. Since my favourite theologian these days is the Anglican Bishop N.T. Wright, I felt that I could hold my own in conversation with this Anglican theology professor. I am wondering if Rambie chose him as his advisor so that he can get to know and understand him better in more informal setting in order to be able to follow his lectures in class.
It’s good to be back and we are looking forward to our month here.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Philippines Trip January 2011 #1
Happy New Year to all. Here is a quick update from Manila. We arrived yesterday afternoon and were met by Rambie (Syrine’s boyfriend whom we are supporting in seminary here. As expected I am up early this morning (3 AM). It takes a while to recover from a trip to the other side of the globe. But I like mornings and it is quiet and cool here right now. Our trip was long (about 40 hours start to finish) but otherwise uneventful. Ginny came down with a sinus infection (high fever and all) 2 days before our departure so we had to get her on antibiotic for the trip. She did really well and is recovering well from the infection. It is good to be back in the Philippines. We plan to spend today in Manila just relaxing and meeting some friends and then head up north to the Kalinga province where we started our translation work almost 40 years ago. This is the coolest month of the year. Yesterday it was about 30 degrees on arrival, but it cools down to about 25 at night – very pleasant. Not much to report so far. I will be in touch through e-mail for most of the time we are here. The following are our 3 main goals for this month:
1. Provide consultant support to several translation projects in languages related to the Kalinga language where we started the project 35 years ago. We have meeting scheduled with the Kalinga cluster (a group of translation teams working on translation in 4 Kalinga dialects) while we are here and hope to work more intensively with one of these teams.
2. Participate in a dedication of the memorial library we helped build in Asibanglan to honour our co-workers like Pedro, who gave their lives for the translation of the Bible. That is scheduled for the weekend of January 22 and will involve a 6 hour trip into the mountains, the last 2 hours hiking in the mud.
3. Fostering relationships for peace making in Kalinga province where peace is often disturbed by revenge killings and inter-tribal conflict. Specifically we will be helping to make connections between the Catholic Bishop in Kalinga province who is very active in peace making and a Filipino couple sent by the Mennonite Church in Canada to develop a ministry called Peacebuilders Inc. The Catholic Bishop in the Kalinga province has been very supportive of the translation work there (past and present), even providing office space for the teams.
1. Provide consultant support to several translation projects in languages related to the Kalinga language where we started the project 35 years ago. We have meeting scheduled with the Kalinga cluster (a group of translation teams working on translation in 4 Kalinga dialects) while we are here and hope to work more intensively with one of these teams.
2. Participate in a dedication of the memorial library we helped build in Asibanglan to honour our co-workers like Pedro, who gave their lives for the translation of the Bible. That is scheduled for the weekend of January 22 and will involve a 6 hour trip into the mountains, the last 2 hours hiking in the mud.
3. Fostering relationships for peace making in Kalinga province where peace is often disturbed by revenge killings and inter-tribal conflict. Specifically we will be helping to make connections between the Catholic Bishop in Kalinga province who is very active in peace making and a Filipino couple sent by the Mennonite Church in Canada to develop a ministry called Peacebuilders Inc. The Catholic Bishop in the Kalinga province has been very supportive of the translation work there (past and present), even providing office space for the teams.
Friday, December 31, 2010
On Metaxas' Bonhoeffer
Review of “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” a biography written by Eric Metaxas.
I was looking forward to reading this book as I had long been a fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I was particularly eager to see how Metaxas would reconcile Bonhoeffer’s discipleship in the way of Jesus and his commitment to non-violence with his participation in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Although Metaxas thoroughly builds the rationale for Bonhoeffer’s eventual participation in the conspiracy as an act of obedience in his commitment to Christ, I felt that he underplayed his belief in and commitment to non-violence. The pieces were there, such as the central place of Jesus’ “sermon on the mount” in Bonhoeffer’s theology and his links to the Moravians through early influences in his mother’s life and the presence of the van Horn sister’s in the Bonhoeffer home as caregivers for the children. Also Metaxas implies that Bonhoeffer had more than a passing interest in Ghandi’s life and teaching. However Metaxas never really draws these pieces together to show how these lead to a commitment to non-violence, if not pacifism, in Bonhoeffer’s theology, something that I believe makes for greater creative tension and ambivalence in his story.
Given the extent to which Metaxas uses material from Bonhoeffer’s friend Eberhard Bethge in this book, one could wonder why another biography was needed as Bethge has already written a rather extensive biography on Bonhoeffer. One wonders what Metaxas work adds to what Bonhoeffer’s friend has already written. Metaxas quotes extensively from source material, sometimes to the extent that the prose becomes a little tedious. I also found that it was not always easy to follow the development of the narrative because of the way Metaxas tended to flash forward and back from cited dates in the narrative. I found that I frequently had to refer back to a previously cited date to re-establish where I was in the time line. I would have appreciated some maps to establish the geographical context at several points in the story.
All in all, I appreciated this refresher on Bonhoeffer’s life and the context in which he lived out his discipleship. His life and teaching continue to inspire admiration and respect for the man and his insights into the Christian life.
This book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller.
I was looking forward to reading this book as I had long been a fan of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I was particularly eager to see how Metaxas would reconcile Bonhoeffer’s discipleship in the way of Jesus and his commitment to non-violence with his participation in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Although Metaxas thoroughly builds the rationale for Bonhoeffer’s eventual participation in the conspiracy as an act of obedience in his commitment to Christ, I felt that he underplayed his belief in and commitment to non-violence. The pieces were there, such as the central place of Jesus’ “sermon on the mount” in Bonhoeffer’s theology and his links to the Moravians through early influences in his mother’s life and the presence of the van Horn sister’s in the Bonhoeffer home as caregivers for the children. Also Metaxas implies that Bonhoeffer had more than a passing interest in Ghandi’s life and teaching. However Metaxas never really draws these pieces together to show how these lead to a commitment to non-violence, if not pacifism, in Bonhoeffer’s theology, something that I believe makes for greater creative tension and ambivalence in his story.
Given the extent to which Metaxas uses material from Bonhoeffer’s friend Eberhard Bethge in this book, one could wonder why another biography was needed as Bethge has already written a rather extensive biography on Bonhoeffer. One wonders what Metaxas work adds to what Bonhoeffer’s friend has already written. Metaxas quotes extensively from source material, sometimes to the extent that the prose becomes a little tedious. I also found that it was not always easy to follow the development of the narrative because of the way Metaxas tended to flash forward and back from cited dates in the narrative. I found that I frequently had to refer back to a previously cited date to re-establish where I was in the time line. I would have appreciated some maps to establish the geographical context at several points in the story.
All in all, I appreciated this refresher on Bonhoeffer’s life and the context in which he lived out his discipleship. His life and teaching continue to inspire admiration and respect for the man and his insights into the Christian life.
This book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller.
Friday, October 1, 2010
On Peace for Afghanistan - Why not love?
Listen to the heart of this 15-year-old Afghan boy named Zekerullah:
The wish to smile, to be human - raising the possibility of love...
Full story here: http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/
It feels like all the anger and doubts of life and death
have ‘collected’ within us in Afghanistan.
It isn’t easy.
We tell each other that we’ll cope somehow with the challenges of survival and harsh physical circumstances before us, even to cope unwillingly with death. What we can’t cope with is the global poverty of love and truth.
And oh, such distance between souls.
Hence, we live constantly hoping and constantly despairing.
We constantly hope because love imparts resolve to people of any age.
We constantly despair because hate seems so uncontrollably noisy.
We walk around hoping and despairing.
We’ve heard everyone claiming the winning strategy over those already cornered.
It mocks a child’s wisdom, so why?
We’ve pitted God/Love against Satan/Hate in hurting and killing.
It drives us to frantic hypocrisy, so why?
We’ve demonized ‘the others’ to deify ourselves.
It amputates our shared essentials, so why?
We’ve tried war.
It doesn’t work. We know it doesn’t work, so why?
Why?
Why this incongruent life of self-absorption, anger and fear?
I refuse the dictation that our pain is passive, or alone.
I refuse to weep this way.
With this smile transforming us, Zekerullah isn’t shy in crying out to you, you who may hear him as we should hear ourselves, “Why not love?”
For we constantly hope that your love would find some way.
Yes, we keep our hearts hoping that our love would find some way.
Heart to heart!
I want to be your friend.
To set my small heart free.
If you should kill me unawares, don’t forget I had asked for your friendship & love.
The wish to smile, to be human - raising the possibility of love...
Full story here: http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/
It feels like all the anger and doubts of life and death
have ‘collected’ within us in Afghanistan.
It isn’t easy.
We tell each other that we’ll cope somehow with the challenges of survival and harsh physical circumstances before us, even to cope unwillingly with death. What we can’t cope with is the global poverty of love and truth.
And oh, such distance between souls.
Hence, we live constantly hoping and constantly despairing.
We constantly hope because love imparts resolve to people of any age.
We constantly despair because hate seems so uncontrollably noisy.
We walk around hoping and despairing.
We’ve heard everyone claiming the winning strategy over those already cornered.
It mocks a child’s wisdom, so why?
We’ve pitted God/Love against Satan/Hate in hurting and killing.
It drives us to frantic hypocrisy, so why?
We’ve demonized ‘the others’ to deify ourselves.
It amputates our shared essentials, so why?
We’ve tried war.
It doesn’t work. We know it doesn’t work, so why?
Why?
Why this incongruent life of self-absorption, anger and fear?
I refuse the dictation that our pain is passive, or alone.
I refuse to weep this way.
With this smile transforming us, Zekerullah isn’t shy in crying out to you, you who may hear him as we should hear ourselves, “Why not love?”
For we constantly hope that your love would find some way.
Yes, we keep our hearts hoping that our love would find some way.
Heart to heart!
I want to be your friend.
To set my small heart free.
If you should kill me unawares, don’t forget I had asked for your friendship & love.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
On Work
The standing joke in my family is that I don't work. The joke dates back a few years when I was working from home with a fairly flexible schedule. One day when my mother needed some help she called me, beginning the conversation with, "since you don't work...." Well there is some truth to this perception. What I do for a living is so enjoyable, it hardly seems like work. My job has virtually every element that I would have listed in the ideal job. As Director of Scripture Translations for the Canadian Bible Society I get to work with the greatest team of colleagues. I get lots of variety; from hosting workshops to supporting my fabulous team to performing quality assurance checks on translations. My job includes plenty of travel around the globe, sometimes to amazing and exotic locations where I get to meet the most wonderful people and hear all manner of beautiful languages. I have the satisfaction of knowing that what I do matters and has lasting value for people and the communities in which they live. Recently our office hosted 5 members of the Haitian Bible translation team. They are currently working on a Study Bible in Haitian Creole. Their work has been severly disrupted by the aftermath of the earthquake earlier this year. What a tremendous privilege to get to know these brilliant and dedicated Haitian pastors who care deeply for their nation and their people. It was so inspiring to hear them talk about the positive impact of the Scriptures they are translating in order to bring hope to people in their time of great distress. One of the team is a pioneer in the development and promotion of Creole as the national language of Haiti. All of them spoke of the important role that the translation of the Bible has played in the development of their language and in the spiritual life of their people. Here is part of a message sent by one of the team to let us know he got home safely. He says: "These past two weeks in Kitchener/Waterloo were very beneficial in different manners. Firstly, it was refreshing for the team to have to work for two weeks without having to face all the challenges we all know Haiti is going through these days. Secondly, in leaving Kitchener we feel more confident in our ability to go on and complete this project to the very end. Thirdly,it was such a great blessing for us to visit you all. We really enjoy your fellowship. Thank you for your acceptance, patience, generosity and kindness to us. We all appreciate it so very much!" I get to do what I love, I get paid for it and people let me know how much they appreciate it. Can that really be called work?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Hart2Heart: On inefficient loitering
Hart2Heart: On inefficient loitering: "Most North Americans of my vintage tend to be goal oriented. It hadn't occured to me that there was any other way to be until we went to liv..."
On inefficient loitering
Most North Americans of my vintage tend to be goal oriented. It hadn't occured to me that there was any other way to be until we went to live in the Philippines. There we found that most people tend to put relationships above goals. A core value for most Filipinos is "Smooth Interpersonal Relationships (SIR)." It took me a while to get my head around this. When we started living in Asibanglan and learning Kalinga, a previously unwritten language, we set up an office where I could focus on the work of learning and analyzing the language. People would frequently stop by the office to visit - an interruption for me in my "work." One day a wise Kalinga friend observed that I was going about things all wrong. He suggested that the way to learn their language was not to sit in my office pouring over my notes and texts, but by going out and interacting with the people of the village. I knew I still had to do the former, but I tried to take his advice and do more of the latter. We were still pretty goal oriented because we had a job to do. Our primary assignment, the translation of Scripture, finally got done in spite of many interruptions and I think we learned something about SIR along the way. Then a couple of years ago I was at a conference where an Asian was invited to speak to a gathering made up of mostly western missionaries. He urged us westerners to get past our preoccupation with our goals and engage in some "inefficient loitering" for a change. Ginny and I hope to do a bit of that when we go to spend a month with our Kalinga "family" in the Philippines in January. I just learned another way of talking about this concept when we went to see "Eat, Pray, Love" last night. "Il dolce far niente" is how they talk about the sweetness of doing nothing in Italian. As I approach birthday #65 I hope to learn about "Il dolce far niente" and enjoy the warmth of being with the people I love more and more.
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