July 2013 – James Robert Kitson

Union Station

I passed through Toronto’s Union Station last evening. The shot above was taken on Platform 27, with the Lakeshore East train approaching (note I am not on or over the yellow line as I take the photo!).

I suppose because I’m planning to have Christian unity as the them of August messages, I think of various elements of community and culture coming together as I look at this scene now. There are all those rail tracks, where there could be dangerous confusion if someone wasn’t in charge of traffic. There is the CN Tower, representing communication. There are the buildings where business of the nation and world is conducted. There is the city itself, with its great ethnic and spiritual diversity. Not visible in the shot are churches, which tend to be tucked away here and there, and where many people think of going if they want respite from everything else.

Respite from the world is part of what is necessary at times, but is that primarily what the church is for? I think not. Maybe as a church we should be more at the centre of things, where people live all these everyday things represented in the scene above? And we have one to keep us united and on track. May we be closer to him, and allow him to challenge us.

Authentic When and Though it Hurts

The Spanish prime minister is being criticized heavily for what is called a “cut and paste” response to the horrible train tragedy in the north of his country. He is not alone in this kind of thing. Either through awkwardness and fear of saying the ‘wrong’ thing, or just outright aloofness and insensitivity, there are those of us who seem to have a catalog of prepared platitudes and facial expressions for any occasion. This kind of approach might work in business, legal dealings and backroom politics, but I have even known and experienced it to be used in church circles. We certainly need to be more authentically human, which is to say Christ-like, with one another than that.

Expect the Unexpected

If we (earthlings) were to experience another large coronal mass ejection such was experienced in 1859, it would be catastrophic. I suppose it is one of those things about which it could be said that it is not so much a question of if, but when, it will come. If it came today, it would apparently fry our power and communications grids in such a way that it would take years to recover. Doing without Netflix would be the least of concerns.

Should we be doing what we can to prepare for this? Of course. At the same time, I find resonating with me the observation of Nassim Nicholas Taleb that we can be reasonably certain that some life-changing, earth-shaking event will happen in the lifetime of most of us, we just can’t know what it will be. What we can do is do our best to be prepared for the unexpected. We can also (returning to my own thoughts here) learn to be more comfortable with uncertainty in our lives, especially when the biggest human-made dangers come from those (‘fundamentalists,’ I think, is the term) who insist on being utterly certain about everything.

I’m Still Working on It

Virtual Reality (VR) can now allow an adult to experience the world through the perspective of a small child. Through the technology, you don’t have to just imagine what it is like for everyone to be three times bigger than you, and not be able to reach stuff on the kitchen counter. But it makes me think of something else I might keep in mind for today, and well beyond, though the specific reminder to give a thought to what the world is like for the children I encounter is not a bad thing in itself.

The Apostle Paul said,that “from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Cor. 5:16 NIV). I should be able to see people differently without aid of any technology. According to the following verse, it would seem the ability to have this kind of perception of others is connected with being part of the new creation Christ has brought into effect. It might be asked how this works in relation to people who do not recognize this new reality, but that is not my first concern. The question, honestly, is how willing am I to see people with Christ-eyes? Maybe if I could see the world of some other through virtual reality, I would still bring my presuppositions about with me and see things accordingly. The Holy Spirit will not allow this. This means that truly entering into and living in Christ-centered community takes courage and true selflessness. I’m still working on it.

Forced Landing

Just read about the most recent occurrence of an airliner making an unscheduled stop because of an unruly passenger. This one was en route to the U.K. from Vancouver, but headed back to Halifax from somewhere over Newfoundland. A 51 year-old man was throwing water on passengers and crew, threatening the crew, and “acting strangely,” according to the CBC report. When the plane landed, the man was arrested and taken to hospital to be assessed.

That last detail, about hospital is important. When the plane was in the air, all that mattered was the safety of all on board and getting the man under control. Once safely on the ground, apart from the inconvenience to passengers (not to be minimized) and expense to the airline, there is a concern about this man, with whom everything obviously is not right. Literally bringing people down with him (from the sky) may, in addition, be a picture of what he is doing with people around him in his life, since it seems unlikely this episode just came out of the blue while in the blue. Of course he will have to face whatever legal ramifications await. And maybe that will be the beginning of a new part of his journey, for him and for all he knows.

Live Music

I am all for beat-making and computer music (been there myself), but anything “live” for kids (especially) I am really happy about. Any time people can get together instead of having our noses into a screen is good, and if it can encourage someone to sing or play something, so much the better.