no horseplay

I worked today in the ICU. In June the ICU moved into a beautiful new unit. It is honestly spectacular. The old unit is now being renovated into a swanky new cardiac surgery ICU. Outside the construction area is a list of rules. Rule #5 is "Absolutely no horseplay allowed." I found myself standing in front of the large list of rules laughing to myself.

First, why does this need to be on the list of rules? why on earth would men, or women for that matter, using dangerous power tools, like nail guns, actually engage in horseplay? and how is horseplay actually defined? so here's what Mr. Webster says, "rough or boisterous play or pranks." come to think of it horseplaying with a nail gun might actually be fun.

Second, why does horseplay need to be banned? From my experience with some pretty serious stuff a little horseplay might do us all some good....but perhaps not with a nail gun!

Thoughts

This picture below is of Harriet. She's the matriarch ewe of the flock of sheep that reside on my uncle's land on Saltspring. She's probably the ugliest sheep I've ever seen and she has a distorted bleat. It's actually hilarious. Watching the sheep in their stupidity-they actually run toward a car when it's driving toward them-I wonder to myself: "Does God laugh to Himself that we are his sheep?" When you think about it it's pretty insulting that we get called sheep. Maybe that's not the point though. Maybe the point is that God is so amazing because He actually chooses to shepherd us. We really are stupid but He is really compassionate and patient. He continues to love us and lead us even when we run toward the big moving vehicle.

Yesterday I met a 42 year old who is dying of cancer. I was infuriated when I looked out his window and saw that he was spending his last days looking at an ugly hospital building. On the other side of that hospital building is the city and the water and the mountains. Beauty. It resides beyond that building. I found myself praying that he would be moved to another ward where he could at least look on the beauty of the earth as he breathes his last breaths.

That was at work....downtown I walked past a woman who was begging who had one arm and had obviously been burned in an accident of some sort. I walked past her, stopped, turned around and went back to her. "what are you doing out here?" "I'm trying to get money to feed my kids...I'm not homeless. I don't live on the street. I've done that before and I'm never doing it again." "how many children do you have?" "10 but only 2 live with me." "Why?" "I was a drug addict, prostitute and most of my kids are old enough now to live on their own." "How old are you?" "39...I have 5 grandchildren." "How did you get your injuries?" "My mother did it to me when I was a baby." "I'm so sorry. You are very beautiful." "Thank you." "My pleasure."

Tonight I will go and play music with friends. Sometimes that helps make sense of things. It at least makes the fury of life beautiful for a little while. A taste of what is to come. A taste of the way it is intended to be.

terrace

This is me shooting a potato gun. It was so great!!! That's Dave watching with great awe how far the potato would go. Last weekend I went to Terrace with Dave and Karla and had one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. On Saturday we drove for 15 hours including stops and made it to Terrace by 915pm. In 100 mile house I bought a Crossword scratch and win and won $3 which got me a second one for free. We decided to see how long I could play off the original card. Well, it turns out I played a total of 5 cards before I lost losing the original $3 after all!!! It was fun though.














The second picture is Dave's Dad holding a cedar plank fitted with freshly caught salmon and halibut. It was then cooked over an open fire. AMAZING!!! When the meal was completed with sour cherry pie made by Dave's mom I can't even tell you how great.















On Monday Karla, Scott and I went hiking with Karla's crazy dutch dad. Suffice it to say that Karla and I were wearing shorts, tank tops and hoodies, carrying our bathing suits in our backpacks thinking, "let's swim when we get to the top!" DUMB! It was really cold and we hiked into the clouds. Wind blowing like you wouldn't believe. At the top, all we could think about was getting to the bottom and having coffee which turned out to be fab. The picture above is one of the spectacular views we had when we weren't in the clouds. The lake is where David and Karla got married.

The final picture is the clouds from the plane on the way home. Flying in a 30 seater plane is fun. I am so thankful for the weekend I had. It was fun and refreshing. I also had encouraging conversations with different people who said so many things that touched my soul and they don't even know how much it meant. Thank you Jesus for your creation, the beauty and your people whom you use without them even knowing it.

love or desire?

This week has been a whirlwind. 48 hours of work and 10 hours of recording so far. Fortunately, I was able to fit in dinner with a good friend before he left for a few weeks. We had amazing conversation that was challenging and refreshing. We were talking about how we live our daily lives and how our relationship with God fits into all of that. He shared with me that he asks himself, "Is this being directed by heavenly love or earthly desire?" Obviously, if we are being directed by heavenly love our decisions will be beneficial to all, not just ourselves. If we are being directed by heavenly love, the joy and satisfaction of others will be put in front of our own. However, if the opposite is true, our decisions will only benefit ourselves. Others may be wounded or misdirected in our process of selfishness. Whether it is the way we drive or how we function in our relationships. From the small decisions to the life changing ones. I think it's a really good question: "Is this directed by heavenly love or earthly desire?" Not only that, if we function out of earthly desire we are actually displaying how little we know God. If we know God we will show that by being directed by heavenly love. It's complicated and against our nature because we are sinful. Fortunately, if we know Jesus, we have His Spirit, and living by this heavenly love is actually possible.

"My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love---so you can't know Him if you don't love." 1 John 4:7, 8 The Message