September Blues?

     It was interesting to see the various reactions online to the 10th anniversary celebrations of the 9-11 attacks. They sure run the gamut - some, like Ezra Levant, were upset that political correctness stopped leaders from speaking truthfully about Islamic terrorism; others lamented the lack of spiritual/religious participation (yet Barak Obama recited Psalm 46); people like Tony Jones felt the observances were just given way too much importance; militants want to "never forget" and some Christian leaders remind us of the message of forgiveness (that last one sure doesn't go over well I'm sure). I put a bit of a pointed message on my Facebook page bringing up the (greater) tragedy of 30 000 (actually I think it's closer to 25 000) children who die each day of preventable diseases. It was really a reaction to the U.S.-centric media and how they put so much emphasis/coverage on this kind of thing. I think of the much greater loss of life in things like the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed over 200,000 or the Haiti earthquake where more than 300,000 died - yet they received minimal coverage after the first few weeks. People talk about where they were when the planes hit - I happened to be at church practising for the funeral service for Pastor Ed Winker who had died tragically in a motorcycle accident the weekend before. So 9-11 really didn't impact me as much as some people it seems, as I was already deep into grieving for someone quite close to me. We had an interesting discussion about some of this stuff last night at supper, and Josh made the important point that most Muslim people have nothing to do with this kind of terrorism. Then later I saw a good article by Jim Wallis (10 years after 9-11) about how many have used the 9/11 remembrance day to help build bridges with Isamic communities.
     Last weekend we attended the Westheights BIC Corn Roast at a small farm near St. Clements. It was a great event and we got to know some people from church who we hadn't had a chance to meet yet. Beth even found someone who grew up in Zurich (Ontario) as well.
     This week Beth had to had some medical tests (scope of the digestive tract, top to bottom, if you know what I mean). The preparation ended up being more stressful than the test itself - 24 hours of only fluids and 3 doses of medicine to clear the digestive system. It was kind of a drastic way to lose weight but Beth was pretty amazed when she got on the scale;)

     The first week of school has been typical - busy, tiring and good. It definitely takes some time for students to get used to classroom routines and expectations, along with patience and consistency needed on my part. I appreciate getting back into a routine as well - more regular workouts at Good Life, meditation times. I finished re-reading Philip Yancey's "Disappointment with God" which is an excellent and honest look at some tough questions dealing with God's seeming silence/absence.

     Saw a couple of movies in September: "Captain America" was entertaining comic fare, but "Contagion" was pretty disappointing - it's being promoted as a 'thriller' so I thought Beth shouldn't attend, but it was pretty slow moving with next to no real tension (someone compared it to 'Jaws' but there was never that huge sense of dread they played up so well in that old movie).
     Over the last couple of weeks I've mainly been listening to new music from Sara Groves - "Invisible Empires", Proto~Kaw (Kerry Livgren) "Forth", Ben Shive "The Crashing Cymbal Clouds", The Hawk in Paris (with Dan Hasseltine from Jars of Clay) "His + Hers". However I still have fit in some older stuff (to check off my listening list) like The Choir - Kisses and Killers, Circle Slide, Free Flying Soul and The Police - Synchronicity.