The Tree
by Michael, posted December 4, 2011Clara is not technically crawling, but she is very mobile. Through a combination of scooting, rolling, and dragging, she seems to get herself into just about everything. So we’ve taken a number of steps to tidy up the lower areas of the apartment and remove things (especially power cords, her favourite) from view. I spent an evening a few weeks ago carefully attaching our IT equipment to the underside of a small table, where it is now out of view and reach.
Having done all this, it seemed like it would be giant step backwards to erect our 6′ artificial tree in the living room, covered in bright lights and other shiny enticements.
As it turned out, we were able to pick out a very cute tabletop tree at a local nursery, which Tara has done a lovely job decorating.
And no lights, presents, or decorations within reach of Clara—just some strings and bits of fallen cedar where daddy had been twisting boughs into a wreath.
Three weeks away!
Filed under: General | Leave a comment »The Tract Lady
by Michael, posted November 7, 2011“Do you know where you’re going when you die?”
My friend and I sat on a bench, overlooking the pond in our local park. We’ve been friends since university, but are now also colleagues, working together at a small engineering company. We were in the park on business: testing a small autonomous watercraft. I had my nose buried in a laptop, making some fixes, while he was absent-mindedly driving the boat.
The unmanned catamaran we have is striking and unusual. We often have people approach us when we’re testing in the park, so I have a brief spiel I give, where I explain how it works, and what it’s for.
This lady was different, though. She was there to talk, not listen.
My friend stared away. “Not interested. Have a nice day.”
~
“Where am I going when I die?”
Dallas Willard calls this the gospel of sin management. In its purest form, it says, “I’m a sinner and deserve eternal punishment; by believing in Jesus, he pays for my sins on the cross, so that when I die, I can go to Heaven.”
For a long time, I would have identified that idea as the kernel of my faith—at least, if asked to think about it. This would have been the key fundamental around which everything else was assembled. “Being good” was important, it just wasn’t the most important. How important was it? That’s hard to say… the main purpose of being good seemed to be so that believers could lead by example, be wordless witnesses, that kind of thing.
~
I don’t think I believe that any more. Or rather, I might… it’s just not the kernel.
Heresy? Here’s your heretic:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 24:34-40)
When does Jesus ever ask someone where they’re going when they die? What he does do is offer physical healing, acceptance, and hope. He offers moral guidance. He says “your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more.” He tells people to give their possessions to the poor. He talks about being renewed, being born again. He says that we must be like little children to enter his kingdom.
Jesus talks a lot about his kingdom. Some people think he’s talking about heaven, but when you look at it that way, you start to wonder what the point is of life here on earth, as a Christian. Is it to hand out tracts in the park? Why? So they can join up with us and hand them out too? What’s the point? If that’s all there is, being a Christian is just a waiting game; if that’s it, I’d rather be an atheist who knows his destiny, and knows to make the best of his brief time here on Earth.
~
Works-based salvation gets a bad rap in conservative churches. Christianity’s big differentiator is supposed to be that salvation (“going to heaven”) is a free gift, rather than earned by doing good things.
But no, salvation is by faith alone, we hear, a message typically attached to a passages from Paul’s letters, like Romans 5:1. It’s an empty message, though; it leaves Christian living in the limbo I describe above. If my religion makes me feel like the best-possible scenario is to get hit by a bus tomorrow and skip the whole earth-thing, I think I must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere.
The thing is, when Jesus talks about his Kingdom, I don’t think he was meaning a castle off in the clouds somewhere. I think he was talking about something here on earth, now—the kingdom that we as his followers are supposed to be building. The “good news” is not an airy-fairy intellectual message about sin debt repayment, it’s the whole story of Christ, that he made us and loves us and wants us to love him and love each other. It’s that Christ is coming back someday to put the world right, and until he comes, we are his hands and feet to begin that task. The good works that we do are not to earn an after-death salvation, but are to bring his kingdom on Earth. And it’s participating in that kingdom which actually saves us—not from the future penalties or consequences of having committed sins, but the bondage of the sin itself.
How’s that for salvation?
~
What about when we do die? I don’t know, but I’m content to let God sort that one out. I don’t think Jesus put a huge priority on that in his teachings, so I’d rather not either. There are an awful lot of good people in this world who don’t “accept” Christ, and an awful lot more who have lived and died and never even heard of him.
There are also a lot of really rotten, wretched, selfish, materialistic Christians out there.
So I’m not sure what the story is with the afterlife. I believe in it—Jesus tells the other thief that he will join him in paradise. And I also believe in grace, because that thief sure didn’t deserve what he received. God designed and made us, and sees our hearts. I don’t think thoughts of future judgment (or judgment-avoidance) should be the basis of our faith, and nor should they be the basis of how our faith is presented to unbelievers.
~
These are not totally new ideas. We’ve been thinking about them a lot more recently, though, in large part prompted by the books Evolving In Monkey Town and The Divine Conspiracy. I don’t think I’m ready to identify myself as a post-evangelical, but a lot of the issues in that movement resonate with me. We both found it very refreshing how Rachel Held Evans (in Monkey Town) chronicles her own growing willingness to entertain doubt, to put aside what were previously unquestionable fundamentals, and to actually wrestle with difficult questions.
Which is really what this is all about. What I’ve got here is just a starting point. What’s exciting is seeing our faith as a dialogue—something we’re working out as we go along, something we’re emotionally and intellectually invested in, and that we can be passionate about. Some worth living in the here and now, for ourselves, for Clara, and for our community.
Filed under: Reflections | 6 Comments »Clara the Baker
by Michael, posted October 24, 2011
Also made some white bread this weekend. It was a team effort.
Filed under: Baby, Food and Recipes | 1 Comment »Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
by Michael, posted October 22, 2011I had good luck last night making whole wheat hamburger buns. I’ve made the lovely light brioche buns from Smitten Kitchen several times, always with success and to acclaim, but I was trying out a recipe for 100% whole wheat bread last night, and wondered if I could adapt it to buns as well as a regular loaf.
The recipe came from my trusty Book of Bread (p. 78), and is pretty dead simple:
- 1 tbsp. active dry yeast
- 2½ c. warm water
- 2 tbsp. molasses
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1 tbsp. coarse salt
- ¼ c. oil
- 6 c. whole wheat flour
I substituted in about ½ c. of all-purpose flour, and I also sprinkled white flour during kneading rather than whole wheat. So it isn’t 100% whole wheat any more, but it’s pretty close, and the little bit of white flour gives a lightness that you want when making buns.
Instead of making 2 loaves after the first rise, I made one loaf, and divided the other part into six pieces, each of which became one of the rolls. I folded them around and spaced them out on a greased cookie sheet, and made sure to press down firmly in the center of each—you want a hamburger bun to be wide, rather than tall.
When the second rise was done, I painted the tops of the buns with a beaten egg, and sprinkled with sesame seeds, as in the SK recipe. I also placed the pan of water in the bottom of the oven, to add more moisture to the oven and give a nicer crust. Then I put the cookie sheet with the buns and the loaf in together, both for the full 45 mins. I rotated the cookie sheet partway through, as our oven is not all that consistent, especially when more heavily loaded.
We both thought it was a winner: really nice wheaty flavour, but not overly-dense as whole-wheat sometimes is, and not so much flavour that my homemade 1/4-pound burger was overwhelmed.
Things I would do differently? Instead of making one loaf and six rolls, I would 1.5x the recipe and do two loaves and six rolls. It’s no more effort to multiply a bread recipe, and we typically eat through 1-2 loaves per week anyway, so it makes sense to just make and freeze the extra, and then it’s there and fresh when needed.
Filed under: Food and Recipes | Leave a comment »The Tragedy of Quiznos
by Tara, posted October 16, 2011About a week before our wedding, a family friend came to visit. He was part of the band playing at our reception and had come in for a rehearsal. That evening, I went out with him and my brother for dinner.
“So where do you want to go?” Steve asked.
“I dunno. Where do you want to go?” Josh said.
Steve laughed. “I dunno. You live here!”
“Why don’t we go to Quiznos?”
Josh pointed to the illuminated sign on the side of the road.
Steve got suddenly serious. “No, man. I can’t go there any more.”
“What? Why not?”
Before we moved, Quiznos had always been one of Steve’s favourite places to eat and was often the default when we didn’t feel like anything else.
“I just… I can’t,” he said. “They’ve ruined it.”
“Why?” Josh asked. “What did they do?”
“After I ate there the last time, Emily said she’d never seen me so upset.”
“But it’s Quiznos!” Josh said.
“I know! It’s Quiznos! But they ruined it.”
“What did they do?”
Steve suddenly wrenched the wheel to the left. The car whipped around in a tight u-turn.
“Wait! Just tell me! We don’t have to go! Just tell me what’s wrong!”
Steve’s expression was grim. “I can’t. I have to show you.”
He pulled into the Quiznos parking lot. We got out of the car, filed into the restaurant and took our places in line.
“You have to tell us what’s wrong,” Josh said. “You need to prepare me for this.”
But before we could get him to say any more, it was our turn to place our orders. We all got what we normally got and sat down. Josh and Steve unwrapped their sandwiches and each took a bite.
“They changed the sauce!” Josh exclaimed.
“They changed,” Steve said, “the sauce.”
“Aww,” I whined as I had my first bite.
“See what I mean?” Steve said.
“Why couldn’t you have just told us?,” Josh said. “Quiznos is ruined for me now.”
“I know!” Steve said and sighed.
I miss those guys. :)
Filed under: General | Leave a comment »Granola
by Michael, posted October 7, 2011I’ve had a hankering for a while to try making granola. I haven’t found a boxed one that I’ve been really satisfied with, and the ones that I’ve been kind-of satisfied with have been on the expensive side, at least on a per-serving basis. Like many things, granola can be more economical, and potentially tastier and healthier, when made at home. And even without doing it regularly, it’s cool to know how it can be done.
Like bread, yogurt, and a lot of other things, the actual ingredients and process are extremely flexible: granola is rolled oats and whole wheat flour, with some water, oil, a gooey sweetener, and pretty much whatever else you want to add to it. When starting out, it can be helpful to follow a more precise recipe than that, so when I first attempted this a few weeks ago, I made “Simple Granola”, as instructed by More With Less.
We only had a few tablespoons of honey left, so I didn’t have nearly the 1 cup called for, and made up the difference with half molasses, and half a water and brown sugar mixture. I also had the temperature up too high in the oven, so it ended up getting darker than it should have, but still came out really delicious and crunchy, despite a slight burnt-sugar edge. We both enjoyed eating it in various configurations: it was good on its own, with yogurt or milk, with fruit, and as an additive to upgrade dried cereals such as Shreddies and Cheerios.
More With Less readily identifies the honey as being the most expensive component of homemade granola. While cutting it in part (or completely) in favour of sugar or molasses is certainly an option, honey tastes a lot better and is apparently better for you than refined cane sugar. The recommendation given is to buy it in bulk from a local producer, which we were able to do at a honey farm I found along my bike route. We paid $7.75 for a 1kg jar, but apparently it’s even cheaper if you bring your own vessel (including just bringing back the jar for a refill).
For the second batch, I used close to a cup of real honey, and only a few tablespoons of molasses. Since we were making a pumpkin pie that afternoon anyway, I also threw in a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds, which added a really lovely extra crunch to it. Other additions the second time around included sunflower seeds, wheat germ, and shredded coconut.
The full batch fits nicely into a 10.8L snap-sealing plastic tub. It’s supposed to be good for 2 weeks stored this way at room temperature. Both batches we’ve had pretty much all eaten up by two weeks in, so it’s hard to assess that perfectly reliably, but both have certainly good down to the last cluster.
I probably won’t make homemade granola all the time, but like nuts & bolts at Christmas, it certainly makes a lovely treat every now and then. You can insert your own granola-parenting joke here. :)
Filed under: Food and Recipes | 1 Comment »Club Sobeys
by Tara, posted October 2, 2011Michael and I are grocery shopping. I’m sorting through the bin of jalepenos, looking for ones that fit my definition of “perfect”. Michael and Clara have gone searching for fruit in the next aisle, leaving me alone and vulnerable. I am approached by a Sobeys employee, bright-eyed, friendly and holding a clipboard.
EMPLOYEE: Hi there! Have you heard about our Club Sobeys card?
ME: (smiles back) Oh, yes I have, but I’m not interested. Thank you, though.
E: Oh, why is that?
ME: Oh, because I’m not.
She pauses, startled by my answer. She quickly regroups and tries again.
E: Well, today is Club Sobeys day and just so you know…
She begins relaying the details of the current For-Club-Members-Only specials.
ME: I’m really not interested.
E: Can you tell me why?
ME: Because I’m not. I don’t want a Club Sobeys card. Thank you, though.
I try to turn back to my shopping, but she is unwilling to accept defeat.
E: Well, is it the card or–
ME: I’m just not interested. I don’t want to give away my information–
E: It’s really not that much information.
I raise an eyebrow at the 8.5 x 11 paper, filled with blank spaces.
ME: It’s my name, my address, my phone number–
E: (looking down at her clipboard) Well, just your first name, your address–
I read her name off of her tag. She stops talking and looks up.
ME: I am not interested.
Then I turn back to my shopping and she goes off to attack another hapless customer.
Maybe it’s just stubbornness, but there is now no way I am getting a Club Sobeys card. If left to my own devices, I may have thought about it and reconsidered (in fact, I almost did once), but I’ve had several conversations of this variety. I’m fine with being asked if I have one. I get that this is of value to Sobeys. I’m even fine with an employee trying to convince me to get one. But having to say FIVE times in one conversation that I’m not interested and being argued with each time doesn’t demonstrate good salesmanship or company loyalty. It is rudeness: an utter disregard for the value of my time and preferences.
Anyway, I won’t say that I won’t shop there again. It is sometimes nice and sometimes convenient. But my regard for the company will echo its regard for me– the more they disregard what I say, the more I will disregard patronizing their establishment.
Filed under: General | 1 Comment »Four Months
by Michael, posted September 19, 2011It’s been a busy four months. :)
Filed under: Baby, Video | 2 Comments »Drama Queen
by Tara, posted September 14, 2011Our daughter is a drama queen.
I wish there was a different phrase to describe it, because that one is laden with negative connotations, when I really mean it very affectionately.
She had her second round of vaccinations on Monday. Throughout the appointment, I could tell that she knew something was up. Her eyes registered vague remembrances that something awful happened here.
So by the time the first needle came, there was hardly any shock in her cry. Merely a petition as to why I should be so cruel as to make her go through this again.
The nurse came with the second needle. “Now this one,” she said, “is the one that stings.”
As it went in, Clara’s cry continued, offended and wounded. That is, until the pain registered. Then her eyes flew wide and her cries reached a new register.
Poor dear.
But you also come to recognize your child’s cries. And you can tell when they are crying for physical or emotional reasons. And while she was definitely crying for physical reasons, much of it, dare I say more of it, was emotional.
As a drama queen, Clara expresses vehemently and passionately what she is thinking and feeling. This will be a great balance for her more stoic mum and dad. She’ll teach us expression and we’ll teach her temperance.
But that is more as she moves into adulthood. Until then, I look with some manner of fear and trembling on her passage through adolescence.
Filed under: Baby, Reflections | Leave a comment »The Ride for Refuge
by Michael, posted September 11, 2011Two summers ago, I had a co-op position in Ottawa, Ontario. Technically, the job was in Kanata, the tech-park suburb just west of the city; as I was living in Ottawa proper, this meant a commute that was either an 80 minute bus trip, or a 15km bike ride.
I used the opportunity to purchase myself a nice road bike, and built up my stamina so that I could ultimately do that ride in just a hair over 25 minutes. I also got connected with the Ottawa Bike Club, and participated in a number of lengthy group rides with them. The culmination of all this is that I ended up cycling 145km to visit Tara at her parents’ house. I made the trip twice; once in June, and then again in August, the night before we got engaged.
Basically, I was in the best physical shape I’ve ever been in. That’s all long gone now.
I’ve been trying to get back into riding, though, and now I have a good motivation: our church is participating in the Ride for Refuge in three weeks. We’re supporting three local causes, all of which are directly focused on welcoming refugees to Canada, and helping new families get settled and plugged in—be it to cultural groups, community activities, shared gardening spaces, whatever.
There are riders participating across Canada and the US. Each host church designates routes, catering to a variety of ambition levels: 10km, 25km, 50km, 75km, and 100km. My objective is to do 100km, which at my current average pace of 24km/h, will be a four hour ride. Earlier this afternoon, I did 66km in 2 hours and 45 minutes, and I feel pretty beaten by it. I’ll be doing training rides in the coming two weekends, though, and hopefully some shorter sprints in the evenings, too. I have high hopes for hitting 100km.
I’ve also set an objective of raising $300.
I won’t post the link here, but if you’re interested in sponsoring me, please leave a comment or email us, and I’ll pass it along—it’s an easy online form for credit cards or PayPal. You have to do a lump-sum amount, but if you want to make it a per-km pledge, I promise to pay you back out of pocket if I don’t make the full 100km. Sort of like the all-you-can-eat buffet that makes you pay for food left on your plate.
No, fitness! Training! Discipline! Not all-you-can-eat buffets!
Filed under: General | 2 Comments »
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