for a really long time now, i have been trying to learn how to love. the greatest thing that i have learned on this journey of mine, is that it is very difficult. i mean, i may not be the most aggressive and confrontational person, and well, i have never really needed to assert myself either, but i have harbored some pretty nasty thoughts about people. some of these people, have not even done anything to provoke these thoughts, or even my shameful gossip about them, it is simply because they are being themselves and it bugs me. there is one good thing about this though, that is, ever time it happens, i usually realize afterward that it was an arrogant or prick move on my part. this can be incredibly humbling for me considering the philosophy i try to live by states that love holds nothing against people and remembers no wrongs. again, im not the most confrontational person, and so largely, this is an inner struggle. nevertheless, it is in this seemingly uphill battle that i realized why there is so much controversy in the church. i always look down on people when they move too far on the conservative or liberal sides of the spectrum, only causing divisions. don't get me wrong, there are good conflicts out there, but not many conflicts are good if it causes divisions in the church. maybe im oversimplifying my ecumenical visions for the church, but sometimes people in the church just need to give their head a shake. I mean, say for example, you don't agree on free will, but is that really what we base the common ground of our faith on. such arguments only seem to become unnecessary church politics. there is so much greater need in the world than our selfish desires to define God. its not exactly a salvific matter whether we have free will or not, whether we God created the world in 7 days or if he used evolution. of course, there are some issues that do matter. or maybe its just because im inconclusive of what i believe on the issue, but i would say homosexuality is probably one. but this is one of those conflicts that if it results in a split, than i think both sides are wrong. As John Howard Yoder boldly states: "where christians are not united, the gospel is not true in that place." in other words, i think the kingdom of God, the one that christians have been called to build here and now, needs to start with an fairly basic ecumenism. we need to put aside our differences and focus on what we have in common. if we do this, suddenly we will find Christ's gospel. this is gospel that emphasized love and unity, the one that focuses on helping the poor, and the needy. we need to remember that personal differences are not the point.

Mock biblical battles

a good conversation was had today, the topic of discussion: Goliath Vs. Samson separate from the God factor, and hand to hand combat of course, no swords/spears/slingshots. most of us placed our bets with Goliath, Samson just isn't consistent enough. Inevitable, the next question that came up was king David (not the boy version that fought Goliath) vs. Samson. this one was more difficult. they say David had rugged good looks. what does that mean? does rugged mean sturdy, tough, big? he definitely must have been a tough dude since he grew up as the youngest of at least 7 brothers, and he did kill a lion and a bear. Samson also killed a lion though, he has the stamina to kill 1000 men in one sitting. to top it off, and he also broke concrete pillars with his bare hands. both of them had God on their side so that can't really be factor. we seemed inconclusive on this one...

HE IS RISEN!

He was the word that spake it
He took the bread and brake it
and what that Word did make it
i do believe and take it
- John Donne

Christ has died, but he is risen, Sunday is here! i was not worthy, now i am speechless. Amen, Christ is risen indeed!

some pics

                                                                                                             

home is where the house is

so i think that this is what happens to most people, but im horrible at keeping this blog up to date, i hope your still interested. anyway, what has happened here in the past few weeks? well we have had a coffee house, the inaugural edge spring melt down. it was really good, we had three singer song writers come in, two locals, Jodi king, Derek Voth and Nova Scotia's Jonathan Bryant. it was a fun evening, starbucks donated a ton of fresh bean and treats and we had the edge's own very gifted and experienced barista's Caleb Elias and Andrew doerksen pumping out delicious beverages. and i would say that for the very first time hosting a coffee house, this was fairly successful fundraiser. that is probably the only big event, but now that the sun is out, our days have changed quite a bit. we can skate outside now which is super dominant!! we have taken a group to the new fort Garry skatepark, and have taken our club session one time to the plaza at the forks park. and we are planning a few more trips to parks, with the bbq or course, over the summer. 

i also moved out to a new home, on home street. our slogan is "home is where the house is." i have 3 new roomates, who are all rad characters. and i live 50 times closer to the edge. its a super nice neigbourhood actually. lots of kids running around all day, at least when the weather is nice, and a park just down the road. there are coffee shops and grocery stores only a blocks walk away so i can pretty much always walk or bike anywhere i want to go. love it! oh and im full time at the edge of course, now that school is over. 

God bless

patrick 

i won't back down

It is thursday morning April 9th. I am cycling the usual route down wellington and across the train bridge into Omand park. I want lots of speed to ensure an easy hill climb onto the bridge, and so i pedal hard, picking up a lot of speed. As i begin the ascent the path becomes rough as i go over the jagged, still quite frozen, sheet of ice covering the hill. I manage to make it halfway up the hill, but i lose control. i panic, and suddenly i am launch forward. First my ribs smash against handle bars, then my my legs scrape over as well. in split seconds time if in myself scrunch up in a ball on the cold, hard, sharp ice, with my bike coming to a rest on top of me. I lay there for a few seconds unable to move. in my chest i felt a piercing pain. slowly i pushed my bicycle off of me, sat up and leaned against the chain-link fence. i could feel the ice i was sitting on begin to melt and seep into my pants. my wrist hurt, one of my knuckles was bloody and my other wrist scratched up as well. my arms felt weak. "the meeting" i thought, "i have to get to the staff meeting". I struggled to pull myself up, gripping the fence for support. once i was standing, i began to feel a little stronger. "I can still make. I left a little early, so i can take it easy the rest of the way. walked across the bridge, and pushed off. i made my way down portage, sore but managing. I bike through the U of W and then take Ellice towards the exchange. I feel the the blood flowing through my body again, and my cycling adrenaline has returned. As i approach princess street, i merge into the center lane to avoid the construction zone. the car in front of me speeds up a little, and i, seeing the light turn yellow, follow suit. "i'll make this no problem, especially if i can draft behind that white SUV." suddenly the white SUV hit the brakes. Unable to stop at such an incredible high speed, i swerve my bike around the white SUV but failed to do so with my body. my shoulder is wrenched sideways followed my my waist. the impact cranked my saddle 90 degrees and i slip off catching myself as i stumbled in line with the passenger door. i look up at the driver with shock written all over my face only to meet similar expression on the face of the driver. She steps out and i apologize immediately. we examen her car but there isn't a scratch, or if there is, it isn't visible through the dust caked exterior. "Are you OK though?" she asks. i was, or at least the shock and adrenaline was convincing me that i was. she gets back in her car and drives off, and i slowly ride the last few blocks to the Edge. A sit through the meeting with my bruises swelling and overall just feeling a little ruffled. after the meeting, i head over to the richardson building to pick up phil. We bike to church for the maundy thursday dinner and then spend the evening with some friends in wolesley. then on my way home, the final blow is hits me hard. i take portage avenue down to sargent sundaes and cross the bridge into assiniboine park. i follow the path that goes straight through the center of the park, and i see a city temporary road block sign pushed off to the side of the path, as well as, a puddle behind it. the surface of the puddle is frozen and cracks under the pressure of my tires. the puddle gets deeper, and i feel my bike slowing from the resistance of the ice around my tires. i push hard on my pedals but it's no use. i stop moving and hold my balance still pushing on the pedals. no dice. my feet fall through the ice and i am standing in ankle deep cold water. i see and island in the puddle, which was actually much more like a lake. and i jump to it. but my feet are drenched. i looked up and at the puddle, there is no way i will be able to cross this without getting even more wet than i already was. So there i stood, dominated by the puddle. i turned and ran back out of the puddle the way i came in and decided to bike around the park. i make it around and start heading down shaftesbury. "this is ridiculous, i hate biking" i think to myself. i just got destroyed on my bike ride today. actually my thoughts might have sounded a little more pissed off than that. but i suddenly find myself grinning. "what am i saying, i love biking, i just had one bad day." thats when i began to sing. "no i won't back down, gonna stand my ground," no joke, i just started singing out loud. "you can put up at the gates of hell, but i won't back down. no i won't back down, though the world keeps on draggin me down, i won't back down." where would i be without johnny cash. i roll into the CMU parking lot, and put my bike in the shed. life is good. God is good.   

God is awesome

5pm, the sun is still up because the days are getting longer, tomato soup was warming up, and i was putting grill cheese sandwich number 12 of 16 on the pan. suddenly, Cliff Heide, the leading authority at the Edge skatepark comes barging into the kitchen. "we need to come up with some more food fast, a whole ton of guys just showed up" he announces. panic struck me, "but we only have 16 slices of cheese" i responded. on any other day, this would have been a sufficient amount for everyone to enjoy one sandwich with their bowl of soup. But not this time. Hoj and I said a prayer, Jesus, you fed the five thousand, now allow us to feed the 35 kids before us. we then quickly hit up the pantry to see what we could do. we found a bag of macaroni, and pour it into the soup. then we cut each sandwich in half. it was a bit nerve racking, i definitely did not want to be short of food so that someone wouldn't get a meal. that would have been a horrible experience. when the time came to eat, we all ate received a delicious meal. no one complained that there wasn't enough; everyone was satisfied. after the fact, i thought about what happened, there wasn't 12 basketfuls of leftovers to be cleaned up, but 16 sandwiches cut in half still only equals 32, and unless i was missing something, there were 35 of us there that at and were satisfied....